Bitterness
by The New Vampire
Summary: 'Black Silk' Cain is a famous pirate who's made many trips to the Grand Line. But when she's discovered by the StrawHats, will she be able to stay aloof? And what's with the first mate? T for language, gore & a little romance, Canon X OC. -Will DISCONTINUED, PLEASE READ CHAPTER 18 FOR MORE INFORMATION.
1. Chapter 1

**Bitterness**

Chapter 1

The man begged on his knees, blood splattered almost everywhere. His voice was horse, and once proud. One eye was swollen shut, and the other blinked through blood. He begged to the cold figure in front of him for mercy. He offered everything. His life. His soul. Himself. Everything he had. And his children, too. The figure froze, then struck him across the face with the flat of its blade. He fell, sobbing brokenly. The figure hauled him up by the hair, forcing him to look in that wide, pitiless silver eye, set in pale skin almost the color of alabaster, the only one visible. The other was curtained by a thick mane of jet-black hair. Two lips, which he would have thought luscious in a bar after a couple drinks and with a bottle of hard sake in his hand, hovered over each other, ever so slightly revealing the small, white teeth.

"You have no right to offer other's lives to me," a feminine voice hissed. Even through its furious filter, the voice was still velvet smooth and cloying. He whimpered pathetically. The cold grey eye regarded him icily as he scraped the floor desperately. Finally, it turned to the two children, staring at it in fearful wonder.

"Go," the voice said, the tiniest bit softer. "Find me the most valuable thing in your father's house, and bring it here. You know what I'm looking for." The two nodded and rushed away as the man moaned again, though whether it was from his wounds or from the pain of parting with his treasure, the figure did not care.

Soon enough, the children rushed back, the girl holding a small, black box in her hands. Frightened, for she had seen what the figure had done to her father, she held it up, and slowly edged towards it. Gently, the figure relieved her of her burden, and she rushed back to hug her younger brother. The figure opened the box up, and a ruthless smile graced the lips as the lid was closed again and the box disappeared into her pocket.

"I have what I came for," the voice came again. "What you stole from me, you underhanded thief." The man whimpered, before turning to his children.

"Why did you give it to her?" he spat angrily. The two wept, crying in fear of not the figure but of their father. The figure had done nothing to really harm them, but their father beat them to unconsciousness every time he came home drunk, which was often. They had seen no reason why they shouldn't give the figure what their father had often boasted about.

"You misuse your children," the figure said without surprise. "You are truly a villain, MacHaggen." MacHaggen spun around to the figure, anger giving him a hopeful, reckless streak.  
>"At least I have no regrets to this! I'm happy to have stolen that from you," he said defiantly. The figure chuckled coldly, the sound like hot glass tinkling on ice. A musical, intoxicating, <em>deadly<em> sound.

"And it will prove to be your doom," were the last, venomous words that he heard as a katana blade sprouted exactly where his heart was.

He screamed, a shrill keening sound.

And then all was silent.

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><p>She looked at the children, who were huddled together. Wordlessly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small roll of belis. She threw it to them. That roll, she knew, would not only sustain them but also help them find a good place to stay, or to work. Either way, they weren't her problem.<p>

"Find yourselves a new home," she said simply, walking out after she took something else from the home.

The children stared at her back, half grateful.

The pirate named 'Black Silk', bounty 397,000,000 beli, walked out of the hovel. She had gotten back what she had looked for, and she was relatively content. Also, she had gotten his treasure box, a bonus. And freed some kids. Another bonus.

Yawning, she stretched and walked back to the town, not caring if there were bloodstains on her pants. No one would be bothered to ask, since this part of town was the haunt for all sorts of villains. Feuds were regular, and scars were seen as being battle-worthy.

She was, to the outside observer, one of those people that simply by-passed pretty and went straight to beautiful. Although only 5' 4", she had thick, jet-black hair that was often brought back in a ponytail and pale, smooth skin. Her eyes were of different colors, the right one a cool brightly polished silver, and the left one a deep blood red, which she often covered with her over-long bangs. Her left pant leg was torn, revealing a swirling tattoo that swirled around on her long leg, and on the other pant leg there was a fire stitched on. Her shirt was simple and dark blue, making the dark bloodstains blend in a bit. A katana hung sheathed from her waist via a long leather strap. Her appearance screamed out 'dangerous', and she had the actions and the will to back up that claim. The 397,000,000 beli bounty wasn't from being nice.

Black Silk, of course, was not her birth name. Her name was actually Akira Cain. Ironic, yes, that her given name, Akira, meant light and brightness, but her poster name gave the impression of a smooth blackness.

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><p>"Silk!" the bartender behind the bar called out in greeting. A curt nod was all he got as she quietly ordered a drink. In Lougetown, you could get almost anything. Including Marines. The bartender handed her a small glass of light sake, and she sipped it, enjoying the fruity taste. Her attention swiveled to a guy with green hair, almost the color of moss, who walked in and ordered a bottle of sake. Silk noticed his rust-red eyes, a sort of brown-red that made them disconcerting but not quite as demonic as hers were. He sat down a stool away, drinking. An eyebrow raised on her pale brow as Silk watched him drink quickly, but not get drunk. Must be one of those resistant types.<p>

With one smooth motion, she stood up and threw a few coins to the bartender, and walked out. She was unsurprised to see the guy walk out—she hadn't timed her last sip to be the last gulp from the bottle that he took for nothing.

She felt a gust of wind and guessed that a storm was on the way, all the while fingering the black box in her pocket. Inside, there was one of the things that she'd treasure forever. But enough of the fuzzies. She headed over to an unobtrusive shop, noting the direction the guy went. But first, she had some business to take care of.

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><p><strong>AN: And that's the end of this chapter. This is my best One Piece fanfic so far, and I hope that you guys like it. :) Don't worry, I'll continue to work on Saviours and Captive Interest. But One Piece has really caught my attention now. ;) Please review and tell me what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Bitterness**

**Author's note: Hello again! Now, let me tell you all this. You must all get down on your knees and worship UnperfectButLovingIt. She was the one who really motivated me to finish editing this chapter.**

**Ari: Thanks so much! I was a bit worried I went overboard with the drama there…thanks again!**

**ShadedEclipse: Thank you. She's a bit more human here in this chapter, and some of her past is revealed. But she does have a scary glare! ;) Thanks for reviewing!**

**UnperfectButLovingIt: Here it is! Here it is! Here it is!**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

The door banged open, causing the grandmotherly owner to jolt out of her snooze on a cushy, rather dusty armchair.

"You've become such a slob, Marianne," Silk noted to the graying owner, who giggled like a schoolgirl.

"My dear, dear Silk!" she cried, clasping her arthritis-bound hands on Silk's cheeks. The owner, Marianne, was shorter than Silk and far more frail, but there was something about the woman that would not encourage any negative comments unless you knew her well. And although Marianne was well over 80, she was still vitalized as a youth, and just as strong. Not the kind of lady someone would try to mug in a dark alley. She'd probably pull out half a dozen knives and throw them at you. "It's been so long, my dear!" she exclaimed. "Now, do you want to see your holding locker?" Silk nodded.

Marianne ran what was a junk shop to everyone else (although she insisted that everything there was 'antique'), but to pirates she had another use—as a sort of bank. For a fee, she could hold anything for any amount of time. For Silk, who she thought of as a granddaughter, she had a special room.

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><p>The knarled hands held the small, bronze key to the keyhole and opened the door. Silk walked in, with Marianne close behind.<p>

Everything was still in order. In one corner, there was a closet with various disguises and clothes. There was a large trunk, where Silk had various mementos she had gathered from her travels. A huge safe stood against the wall, filled to the brim with treasures and beli. And finally, there was a large chest where all of her personal items were held. Marianne, seeing that Silk was satisfied, walked out of the room and into the hallway, with the promise of fudge to Silk, who smiled. Marianne was one of the precious few who could garner a true smile from her.

Stretching, she closed the door and sat down of the oak floor, leaning against one of the walls. She opened the box again, seeing the black velvet and the two golden rings inside. Her parent's wedding rings. Her father's was plain, and her mother's was set with various small, perfect gems from all over the world. As a set, priceless. But her father had a lot to spare.

Sighing, she held it close to her, before putting it into the chest. It was too dangerous to cavort around the world with it, as she had learned from this recent experience. Her hand froze over another box, this one much thinner and wider, and she opened that. Inside was a frame, and underneath the glass was a scribble, something that anyone else would've thrown away. A childish hand depicted three people. One was a man, tall and blonde with a black hat. The word 'Daddy' was written over his head. Another was a woman with black hair and silver eyes. 'Mommy' hung crookedly over her head. Between them, and holding both of their hands, was a girl with her mother's hair and one grey, one red eye. 'Me' was the label over her. They all had crooked red crayon smiles. Silk gently put the framed drawing back and closed her trunk, trying to ignore the tightness in her heart.

Going to the safe, she extracted a few hundred beli. Digging through the gold, she extracted a few gem-encrusted goblets, a set of gold plates, a few sparkling necklaces and bracelets, and three rings. Putting the two prettiest of the rings (one was a ruby set into gold with diamonds and onyx dotting the rest of the band, and the other was a emerald with a flake of gold set inside, without an incision) on her fingers for emergencies, she dumped the pack she had slung over her back onto the floor. It fell with a pregnant thud. Gold and silver spilled out from it (much of it was from the former MacHaggen's loot), as did some other, more worthless things. She quickly sorted them out, dumping the gold and silver into the safe and putting the things of less worth into the trunk. She snagged one of the nicer Log Posts, one with more accurate degrees written on the sides and a sturdy leathery-black wristband and secured it on her slender wrist. It swiveled around a little, before coming to rest.

Marianne came back with a full plate of fudge, and she sat down on the couches with Silk, and they talked about Silk's latest adventure. She had gone to the East Blue, and raided some pirates there. But the most interesting thing there had been word of a new pirate crew—the Straw-Hats. The captain had originated from the East, and the crew was gathering a huge head of steam.

Marianne nodded and listened throughout the entire story. When she came to the end, Marianne's face exploded in a crinkly smile.

"That's wonderful, dear," she said. "Where are you headed next?" Marianne knew better than Silk herself that Silk couldn't stay in one place too long—she had wanderlust, as the old storekeeper called it.

"I dunno," the girl shrugged. "Maybe back to the Grand Line. I'm curious about the Straw-Hats—you know, that new pirate group running around the East Blue. They supposedly only number 4 or 5, but I've heard they already beat quite a few well-known pirate crews, like the Clowns, Don Krieg's fleet, and the Fishmen pirates. The captain, if the rumors are true, practically beat Arlong single-handedly. Besides, I heard an old friend was back on the move there," she said, referring to Whitebeard.

Her past with Whitebeard was…weird, at best. They met when she was being followed by an idiotic bounty hunter/stalker. She finally killed him, but not before catching Marco's attention. The Phoenix-Zoan had watched her slowly reveal him, before disappearing. But not before she saw his pineapple head.

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><p><em>Soon, as she was packing up to leave in her little engine-powered skiff, she heard some people approaching. Thinking it was other bounty hunters, she turned around casually, resting her arm on the dock. When she looked up, an eyebrow shot up. She knew quire a few faces from the bounty posters she often checked. Just scoping out the competition. There was Marco, Ace, Josai, Thatch, a few underlings, and Whitebeard himself.<em>

"_Hey, you're that weird follower guy with the pineapple hair," she said boredly to the blonde, lazy-looking guy. "What're you doing here? Got your fill of stalking innocent little kids?" The guy chuckled._

"_She's the one I told you 'bout, Pops," he said to Whitebeard. "The kid found a bounty shadower, smoked him out then killed him without a second thought. Got mad when he mentioned some kid she must've known." Whitebeard looked thoughtfully at her. What he saw was a scrawny, weak-looking brat with a chip on her shoulder and ice on her skin. But he wasn't the head of this age for nothing. He knew that appearances were deceiving, and first impressions usually were, too._

"_Pah," he said. "She can't be more than a little brat with some luck," he scoffed, pretending to take his first impression. Coolly, the girl shrugged, turning back to packing._

"_Say whatever you like," she said. "I really don't care." So that was why she was called Black Silk, Whitebeard reflected, hearing her smooth voice. It suited her for reasons that the Marines would never know._

"_She's cute, too," Thatch jokingly whispered to Ace, who punched him in the shoulder playfully._

"_Brat. Know your place," he said to the girl, Black Silk. "Anyway, now join my crew." She looked at him with an expert poker face. Carelessly, she shrugged._

"_I'm good on my own, thanks," she said in an easy refusal, untying the ropes that furled the sails._

"_Oi, Pops won't let you turn down so easily, let me tell you. I know from experience," the tanned, handsome guy with freckles said easily. She later found out his name was Ace._

_Raising her eyebrow again, Silk drew her katana and amid gasps and the sounds of weapons readying, sliced off the walls of her skiff. Pressing a button, it underwent a quick transformation that turned it into a windsurfer. Strapping her stuff to the redefined sail and grasping the handlebar that appeared across the sail with a loose grip that would hold, she smirked cheekily._

"_You'll have to catch me, first," she said, then kicked the engine into gear and raced off. They could see her smoothly navigating through the waves as the windsurfer quickly shrunk in the distance. With a rancorous laugh, Whitebeard ordered his men to follow her. Laughing as well at the thought that anyone could have the confidence of being able to hold out against the Whitebeard Pirates, the commanders burst into action. Marco turned into his phoenix form, Ace grabbed his little boat, and Josai and Thatch ran to the Moby Dick. Marco and Ace were gaining on Silk, before she used the current to lightly shower them, causing Ace to turn and catch a speedily falling Marco before he could hit the ocean._

_This __happened __three __more __times __before __the __Moby __Dick __caught __up __to __the_ _second __commander__'__s __boat._

"_What's taking you brats so blasted long?" Whitebeard roared from his ship. Ace laughed._

"_Silk keeps splashing Marco," he called up to the top of the ship that was carved to imitate a whale. "I gotta double back all the time to save him," he said off-handedly, knowing full well the consequences. Marco regarded him coolly, and Ace smiled to beat the sun—and his little brother. "Just tellin' the truth, Marco," he said sunnily. Marco's look darkened somewhat, threatening dire consequences._

"_Once we catch her, you're going to die," Marco said, before lifting off gracefully. Ace laughed again, and sped up his little skiff. By then, the windsurfer was nearly out of sight. Even though the two got close enough to see her, she still had a good lead. With a quick, hard, almost explosive laugh that had driven its way from her mouth, she prodded the engine to speed up as the two closed in on her._


	3. Chapter 3

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: I just noticed something. I don't have a disclaimer. Well, better late than never, I guess:**

**Disclaimer:** If you haven't noticed already, I'm not Eiichiro Oda (WORSHIP HIM), because if I was, Black Silk would be a canonical character and I would be making millions of dollars off of this, just like he is (lucky…). Instead, I'm posting this on a site called (take a hint, people), and making NO money whatsoever on this, and in fact hoping for just reviews, let alone movie contracts. Thank you.

**Reviews:**

**Leo's Katanas: First of all, awesome name! ^^ Second, thanks so much. I hope you like this new chapter!**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

…

**Oh, yeah. Warning: slightly sappy stuff at the beginning and the end, and lots of numbers. They made my head spin. ^^'**

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Silk smiled, remembering that day. Later, they had found her, several times, actually. But she managed to resist, and it became a running joke with them. She toyed with the band on her upper arm, the one with the Whitebeard pirate symbol. It was identical to the tattoo on Ace's back. She'd made it one day, out of a whim, and the crew made sure never to let her live it down. They treated her like a little sister, and she gladly enjoyed both their company, and the adrenaline of escaping from the ship. Every time, it seemed, she had to break out of the Moby Dick with everyone chasing after her.

She loved it.

"So, the Grand Line again…" Marianne mused, before catching Silk's wrist and pulling her out of the room and into another, which was Marianne's storage. It was full of actual things she sold, whether it was to the Marines or to pirates. But she gave Silk special discounts, or some outright free.

"You'll need a Log Post…a few Eternal Posts…some Sea Stone for fruit users…maps…books…a Den-Den Mushi…and a few tricks up your sleeve. Give me a moment, dear…" Marianne said, rustling through the piles of stuff. There were Log Posts, Eternal Posts, some rough Sea Stone, a Den-Den Mushi cage, and many other things. Eventually, Marianne came out with her arms full. Laying it all on the floor, she showed Silk what she had. There was a Log Post that Silk put back—she had plenty of her own, a few Eternal Posts to the Shambody Archipelago, to Arabasta and a few other places, a cute baby Den-Den Mushi, some maps and books that Silk sorted through, putting down the ones she didn't need, and finally a knife made of Sea Stone.

"It'll keep for a while. Sea Stone's a hard thing," Marianne said.  
>"How much do you want for the lot?" Silk asked. Marianne raked over the pile of things with a business eye.<p>

"Normally I'd say just under 500,000 beli—that knife isn't something you just wave around. But…let's just say, 210,000 beli for the lot, and I'll throw in a few good words about you to Howell." She heard that Howell was the island's shipwright, who was brilliant at what he did. He was originally from Water 7, but moved when he heard that Lougetown had no shipwright. He may not have been as good as the legendary Tom, but here, he was the best. A little rough, but well-meaning. Silk often traveled in little ships, usually a caravel of sorts, called Midnight Ride. She had compiled it of many different types of ship designs that she had seen and shown it to a friend of hers in Water 7, who first refined it so that it would actually float, then helped her build it. He even put in a few surprises, which turned out to be useful. It erred on the smaller side of most caravels, with only two masts, but the sails were huge and it was rather cozy, but comfortable inside. Also, it was mostly automated, so that she could man it by herself. The only thing was, it rarely came away from her adventures unscathed. Howell would have quite a bit of a surprise on his hands.

"Thanks, Marianne," Silk said gratefully. The elderly storekeeper rarely passed on messages to others, let alone good words. That was a service she withheld for only those with extremely deep pockets and for Silk. All in all, it was well worth the price, which she handed over willingly in the form of the golden plates. Raising an eyebrow, Marianne looked at her.

"Would you be a dear, Silk, and take this over to the pawn shop?" she asked. "My arms aren't what they used to be." Silk laughed.

"No problem, Marianne. Oh, and keep the change, too." With that, she gently swept out of the shop and walked out into the well-lit streets. Here, it was a bit cleaner than back there in that little hovel.

She eventually came to a darkly lit but well-kept shop that proclaimed in wooden letters wrapped in gold leaf, "Milton & Co." In one of the windows, a few signs stood. One said 'Open'. Another said 'Loans taken with a 25% interest after 15 days'. The last said, 'We deal in gold. Exchange rate: 1oz=5.94117647 beli.'

Pushing open the door, she heard the little brown bell tinkle and the smell of velvet and precious metals wafted to her. Standing behind the counter was a small, slightly mole-like man closely examining a diamond ring, as one would examine a crime scene, only without any disgust. One look at the man's face, and you would think of a father tenderly searching for a faint birthmark on his son. He had a bald, oval head and an over-large nose. Spindly fingers, ratty clothes, and strange glasses, one with a regular lens and the other with a magnifying glass, completed the look. He did not look up, engrossed in his work, and so Silk dumped the gold plates close to him, making him start violently, fumble with the ring, finally catch it and peer at her irritably with one eye much larger than the other, but both bulging out of his head.

"You know," he said in his posh accent, "You _could_ knock like civilized people do," he sniffed. Silk smiled innocently, resting an elbow on the glass counter and cradling her cheek in that hand.

"But what fun would that be, Milton?" she said, mirth over spilling into her voice. He sighed, reverently setting the diamond ring down on the velvet in the counter, the way one would set down a baby bird.

"It's a good piece, you know. One of my best. May 24, 15, 12:34, brought by the Go-Go Pirates, captain 'Speedy' Jojo. Crew, 48 when he came. Origin, North Blue. Blonde hair, green eyes. Tanned, with a five o'clock shadow. Wore a cowboy hat. Brought it in, told me to bring out the money. Needed it pretty badly, too. Then just walked out." He sighed, staring at it through the glass. "Been looking at it for twenty years, still haven't found a flaw in the diamond. A neat piece of work." Silk coughed in a not so discreet fashion. He looked up at her. "So, what do you need, Silk?" he asked in a world weary tone.

"Can you give me an appraisal for all this?" she asked, first gesturing to the plates before setting down the jewelry, except for the two rings on her fingers (not that they escaped his notice—he followed her hands the entire time), the goblets and a few candlesticks that she found still in her pack. Milton's watery blue eyes searched through the items.

"May I?" he asked after a moment, hand outstretched to the nearest shiny item, which happened to be a candlestick. She nodded. Milton held it in his hands, taking note of the weight. Then he knocked it gently against the metal lining of the counter, listening to the sound. After several more tests, he set it aside, saying only "3,000 beli."

Knowing Milton, it would take a long time. Oh, he could just look over it and tell her the price, but when it came to buying and selling, as he knew she ultimately wanted to do, he was terribly tedious.

Meanwhile, Silk looked at all the treasures under the bulletproof glass. There were necklaces, bracelets, silverware and glassware, gold watches, silver timers, even a gem-encrusted Log Post.

One thing in particular caught her eye. It was a pretty earring, and looking at it, she fingered the empty piercing hole in her right ear thoughtfully. The artfully tarnished silver, catching the light in the perfect way, seemed starkly out of place in the glittering masses. It was a sort of snake that was eating its tale, and crowned in flowers. It surrounded one of the most unusual gems she had ever seen. It was a sapphire that was cut in such a way that it wasn't too small, but it wasn't gaudy. Inside, there seemed to be a coil of darkness, like the ocean.

"Silk?" Milton asked, looking at the girl. He had known her for a long time—he was the one who gave her one of his first loans. He remembered it well.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Aaand, another psydo-cliffie. To tell you guys the truth, I'm kinda way ahead of you guys right now in terms of chapters, since I'm trying to actually plan this out so it has a lesser chance of dying. ANYWAY, I want to know your opinions. What other pairings should I have (other than the one I've mentioned…I'm pretty sure you guys all know who's paired up with Silk)?<strong>

** LuNa (LuffyxNami)**

** Ruffy (RobinxLuffy…)**

** Lupper (LuffyxChopper…if this actually exists. Dunno if I could write it…)**

** Nanji(NamixSanji…does anyone use this acronym?)**

** Ronji (RobinxSanji…)**

** Frobin (FrankyxRobin…do any of these acronyms I'm using actually exist?)**

**Anyway, if you didn't already know who was paired up with Silk, you probably know now. Also, if you want any other pairings to go on here, feel free to make it up. **

**The next chapter will show a little more of her past. :) Until then, good luck!**

**This is Will, signing out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Merry Christmas, all! Er, yeah, late update. Sorry. But I needed more than one review on which pairing to do! So far, I've got LuNa with 2 votes and Ronji with 1 vote. They'll probably stand, unless I get an influx of votes voting against them. My romances tend to be rather long and meandering, I'll try to make LuNa's quicker, at least. It seems to fit to their personalities more, anyway. :) Oh, yeah. Sorry, I lied. This is the chapter with all the numbers in them. ^^"**

**Reviews!**

**monsterousmaiden646: Thank you so much! I will definitely tally you up for those two couples! Thanks for the review!**

**Shoulda Been Grace: I'm glad you liked it! I'll put down your vote, and I hope your Christmas is wonderful! Thanks so much for the review!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

_Milton set down his tea, sighing as he watched the day go by. Another sunset._

_He was just about to dip for a snooze when his door opened, carefully, but the brass bell on the top rang anyway. Opening his eyes, he nearly fell out of his chair with surprise. There was a tiny, bird-like girl, seeming to be starving. She was dirty, in a once-white dress. Her bare feet were covered in scars._

"_Are you looking for your mother, dearie?" he asked, quietly, gently. She shook her head, and briefly he thought he saw red in her eyes. Was she bleeding? But when she stopped the movement, he didn't see anything that would indicate that. Her silver-gray eye stared at him cautiously. Milton felt like he was standing in a room with a frightened deer, or another wild animal. It was just something about her that was edgy, tense, scared. After a quick glance around to ensure that no one else was there, she dipped her tiny hand into a tattered pocket and brought out a box. It was a deep, dark velvet red, and it shone in the way that very expensive things do. His eyebrows raised. It seemed so out of place._

"_Are you a broker?" the child asked, and he realized how old she really was. She looked no more than four or five, but her voice sounded like a seven year old's. And her vocabulary was obviously better. He nodded, unsure where this was going._

"_This was my mother and father's. Please, how much can I get for it?" she asked, reaching up to put it on his desk. Carefully, he opened it up, and gasped._

_One ring was a beautiful gold, plain but still wonderful in its somberness._

_The other was adorned with small jewels from all over the world. Some were so rare, it was almost impossible to find nowadays. There was only one couple in the world it could belong to._

_Lord 'Akuma' and his wife, Angelicus._

_He'd heard the stories, of course. That Akuma had blood-red eyes and flaxen blonde hair, and his wife had night-black hair and silver eyes. That their fighting was near legendary, and their love for each other was. That Akuma had scoured the entire world for the right gems for his wife._

_Looking at the girl, he immediately saw the resemblance. He shook his head._

"_I can't put a price on this," he said quietly. "But do you need money?" She nodded vigorously. He sighed. He knew that she didn't want handouts—she'd rather give away a priceless ring than allow herself to do that. So he phrased his next sentence carefully. _

"_Then I'll be willing to give you a loan." The little girl nodded, and took back the box, reverently placing it back in her pocket._

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><p>The story was simple from then on. He gave her the loan, and never really told her when she had to pay it off. She did, though, when she came back from her first 'adventure'. There had been a bag of gold sitting on his front porch. It all definitely overpaid her debt. He had secretly been slipping a few extra bills when she sold him gold, all the highest quality.<p>

Ever since, they had a good business deal. She would only bring the highest quality gold, and he would price it just a bit higher, so that she'd have plenty to live on.

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><p>Silk glanced up at Milton when he called her name.<p>

"Yeah, Milton?" she asked.

"The lot is worth…let's see. 3,000 beli for each of the candlesticks, that makes 12,000 beli. The goblets are worth 1,600,000 beli, so that's 3,200,000 beli. And the plates…they're very well made. I'll give you 230,000 beli for the lot. That makes 3,442,000 beli. And the jewelry is worth…400,000. All in all, you're getting 3,842,000 beli and not one penny more," he said. She nodded absently, then pointed to the earring that had so captivated her.

"What do you want for that?" she asked. Milton looked over, and his eyes crinkled in the corners.

"It's a rare piece, it is," he said, his voice hushed as he brought it out and set it down on a little cushion of velvet. It twinkled, and she saw that the serpent had tiny little diamonds for eyes. "Very old. Very, very old. Supposedly part of Gold Roger's old loot, but it had been stolen from a gift he'd given the Fishman King. It's an Ouroboros, see, a king. The gem set inside is a sea sapphire. An ouroboros supposedly represents time, and a crowned one represents not only lordship but also master. This in all means 'master of time'. The sea sapphire, I hear, is apparently a refined version of Sea Stone. It is the very essence of the sea, and being set in an ouroboros, it is circled by it, effectively 'caught'. So this earring means 'master of time, catcher of the sea'. Quite a title, and if the stories are correct, more than that. Nearly priceless if put in the right hands, to the right use." He peered at her over his glasses, searching like he had the first day she'd come. She remembered it well. "I will give it to you in exchange for one of the goblets. That makes your total 2,242,000 beli." He put the stack of bills on the counter, pushed the cushion to her and began sorting out the gold. Smiling, she hugged him, which earned her a warm "harrumph", and left, gently pushing the earring into her right ear, a song rippling through her mind with all the comforting warmness of a nursery rhyme.

"_Maybe tonight, we'll fly so far away; we'll be lost before the dawn…"_

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><p>She walked back to Marianne's, giving her the money from the plates: 230,000 beli. Marianne smiled gently, but left when she heard her shop door open. Silk walked back to her holding locker, opening up the closet. Pushing aside some of the neat stacks of clothes, she found what she was looking for—a metal briefcase, one like the carrying cases for poker chips. Only this was much larger. She knew what it was—a weapons case of grenades, grappling hooks and other useful things that she would need on her journey. She had a couple sea-water bombs, calibrated with a quick-flash to make the sea water vaporize and hopefully choke the DF user it was aimed at. If not, she always had plenty of other things to fall back on. After quickly checking everything, including the water pellet guns (it shot bullet-sized cases full of sea water, to stop fruit users), she closed it and set it against the wall.<p>

Black Silk was one of the few high bounties without a Devil Fruit. This was in part because of her intelligence—she had been though to possess at least a tactical genius, although others who knew her better knew that she was also skilled at reading, writing, physics, trickery, and technology. She wasn't the best social person, though, but simply seemed to unobtrusively worm her way into people's hearts with her sweet smile and wild, perfectly free laugh, without them or her even knowing really.

The other part, which had to do with her knowledge of technology and tactics, was her ability to go against Devil Fruit users. She had hundreds of tricks up her sleeve, including the water pellet gun, a snap-on bracelet with Sea Stone embedded in it, and now the knife that Marianne gave her. She knew that one of the weaknesses of fruit users was that they relied on their powers greatly, and often became cocky. Her main weapon, and the one she was best at was still the katana, but she also was good at throwing objects and only moderately good at ranged weapons like a scythe or gun. And in a desperate situation, she could also use caeporia, or a bow and arrow. She was still very sketchy on those, and didn't like using them.

She then found a large duffle bag, and dumped in a few changes of clothes. She could buy some in a pinch, and honestly, she didn't recognize half of the ones in there. They were probably the doing of Marianne, who periodically scolded her on her conservative wardrobe (in other words, she just wore the same couple pants and shirts until they wore out) and would spend a little to get her dresses and skirts, before placing them carefully amongst the clothes in her closet, placed like landmines so that she would be sure to bring at least one along. She put in some beli and gold from the safe as provisions, and took a few of the mementoes from her trunk. Before she zipped it up, she dropped in the Eternal Posts. She put the baby Den-Den on the bedside table, and then pulled out the suitcase from under the bed. In there, were some more of her weapons. There was an unstrung bow and a quiver of arrows. The blue-fletched ones indicated Sea Stone, for fruit users. Also, there were little throwing stars, some coated in Sea Stone and carved accordingly. There was a small pocket where she put in the rough Sea Stone that Marianne gave her. That was for her inventions. She'd discovered a special way of cutting and shaping them, which involved a lot of sea water, coral, and other things that depended on what she was making. A dismantled scythe lay in pieces, strapped to the floor, and a few pistols lay here and there. The Sea Stone knife, however, stayed hanging by the katana sheath on her leather strap belt. There was a space on top for her smaller briefcase, and she slid that in and snapped it into place.  
>Smiling a little thinly, she closed it and put it next to the bedside table, where she also put down the duffle bag. She picked up her pack, which really was no better than a large sack that she carried often. After some consideration, she put in a box of Marianne's fudge from the fridge in the corner, one of many that the old woman had given her. Then she put in her first aid kit, which had the necessary herbs for a month or so's dosage of her medicine. It was to help her with her seizures, and her insomnia.<p>

The details were sketchy, but she'd somehow had head trauma when she was a little kid, and sometimes got seizures. When she did, her body thrashed as if trying to break out of something. But they were easily repressed with a mix of common herbs, and she was confident she'd be able to suppress them. They only came every now and again, so she took a dose every two months. That was easy.

But the insomniac medicine, a non-addictive narcotic, was a different story. First of all, the herbs were pricey and some were downright rare. She had to take it any time she was planning on getting some sleep, with the exception of catnaps. She often had night terrors, really bad ones that made her bolt upright, screaming, sometimes with tears running down her face, even when she was a teenager. She wouldn't recognize anything for the first few minutes, and she'd be unresponsive, inconsolable, and confused. It was embarrassing in hindsight, terrifying in reality. She was also able to ignore quite a bit of pain, which could be useful in a fight.

Thinking, she slowly put in the maps and books and pulled the strings of the sack tightly. Feeling suddenly tired, she quickly mixed the herbs and put in water, drinking the bitter mixture. Putting the glass she had used on the bedside table, she lay down on the bean bag bed, which was what she had in place of an actual bed.

Her dreams were peaceful that night, laced lightly with the fuzziness of narcotics.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: And Chapter 4's done! In Chapter 5, we'll get our first glimpse at the Straw-Hats (although we've already seen one of them…) and the action will finally be pumping up!<strong>

**Please PM me or review and let me know what Straw-Hat pairing you'd like, and thank all of you for you're wonderful reviews, faves and alerts! They motivate me to keep going!**

**This is Will, signing out. Merry Christmas, all.**

**Luffy: We get a turkey! We have a turkey! When'll it be done, Saaaaanjjjji?**

**Sanji: This isn't for you! It's for Nami-swaaan, Robin-chwaaaan and Will-twannn! 3**

**Me: Wait, when was I ever included in this? O.O**

**Nami: You'll get used to it. Sanji, hurry up! I'm hungry, too!**

**Sanji: Hai, Nami-swaaaaaan! 3**

**Me: O.O" Creeeepy….**

**Zoro: That's the ero-cook for you.**

**Me: Eh, Zoro?**

**Sanji: Oi, Marimo! Just because I know how to treat _ladies_ doesn't mean that you're any better! I mean, you're still single!**

**Zoro: And you're not?**

**Me: Um, guys?**

**Sanji: At least I have something other than muscles between my ears?**

**Zoro: What, that eyebrow?**

**Me: Guys?**

**Sanji: THAT DOES IT!**

***fighting ensues***

**Everyone Else: …**

***something breaks…probably expensive…oh, look. Half of the decorations on the tree fell off***

**Me: THAT TEARS IT! *kicks both of the idiots…where it hurts…***

**Zoro: Ow! What'd you do that for?**

**Sanji: Will-twaan! How may I earn your undying love?**

**Me: *seething* Both of you…pick up that damned mess on the floor and you WILL NOT F**KING FIGHT, OR SO HELP ME I WILL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER, EVER HAVE CHILDREN! *stomps off to buy more decorations* Nami, why did I ever invite them?**

**Zoro and Sanji: O.O" …**

**Nami: There, there. It's alright. Zoro, your debt is increased by 25% and Sanji, I will put you in debt if you don't hurry up, clean this mess, and finish the turkey. I'll go with Will and get more decorations.**

**Chopper: Can I go, too?**

**Me: Sure.**

**Luffy: Oh, me, me, me!**

**Me: Ah, no.**

**Luffy: Whyyyyy?**

**Me: You're going to trash the store.**

**Luffy: No I won't?**

**Me: And those five aisles at Wal-Mart?**

**Luffy:…oh, fine.**

**Usopp: You can help me wrap the last presents, Luffy!**

**Luffy: Okay! *runs off***

**Robin: I'll go with you, Writer-san. I have some things I'd like to purchase.**

**Me: Sure, Robin. *walks off***

**Ah, the craziness of the holidays. Don't you just love em? :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Happy 2012, peoples! Sorry I couldn't do it on New Year's Day, but anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**Reviews:**

…

**I…I didn't get…I didn't get any reviews for chapter 4…I feel like a horrible writer…**

Chapter 5

Black Silk woke up sometime near 11 o'clock, and stretched before smiling at the bird perched on her windowsill. She got up and picked up the bags she left the night and gently put the Baby Den-Den in her pocket before and walked out to the front of the shop. Her new earring dangled and reflected shattered blue light onto the old, dusty things.

"Marianne?" she asked quietly. The old woman soon appeared and quickly took note of the three bags.

"You're going, aren't you," the elderly storekeeper stated. She nodded.

Marianne sighed gently. She'd known the girl from when she had been 6 or 7 years old, and even then Silk had always been somewhat restless. Patient, but restless at the same time. The small, slight girl would always tell her about adventures she would have on the wide, blue ocean once she had the means to go sailing.

And one day, she did. She was ten years old, and sailed on a tiny little skiff. She had left a note saying that she'd 'borrowed' an Eternal Post for Lougetown and the next island, a small place just off the route to the entrance of the Grand Line. A week and a half later, she came back, a little cut and bruised, and excitedly told her all about it. There was a light in the child's eyes that she hadn't seen there before, but knew well. Wanderlust. Silk, then Akira, had found a treasure trove there, buried deep where practically no one but a child would have found, and gave half of it to Milton and half to Marianne.

Akira continued to make journeys across the world and sometimes on the Grand Line, and her intelligence had caught the Marine's eyes. They offered her a position, but when she heard their terms, she refused and escaped at the age of 12. Later, she told Marianne as the old woman patched up her wounds:

"_They wanted to cage me up and put me to their use. They wanted me to find the old weapons and construct them so that they could murder all the pirates. They wanted to keep me 'safe' and not let me go anywhere. So I had to refuse, Marianne. The price was just too steep."_

And Marianne agreed. The Marines eventually put a bounty on her head, calling her 'Black Silk' Cain and putting quite a price on her head. Silk had to use all of her knowledge and all her connections to continuously escape the World Government.

And after 8 years of the teenager traipsing around the world, she still agreed. The blood-mother or father might not have, but Marianne was perfectly happy waiting back at Lougetown to wait for Akira to come back, with that fulfilled light in her eyes and a pack of treasures slung over her shoulder.

Marianne smiled, gently dusting a model of the world.

"Alright, dear. Do you have everything?" she asked, and Silk nodded. Marianne gave her a hug, which Silk returned gently. "Be safe, and come back," was the last words Marianne told her before Silk walked out, a light spring in her step. She was headed to the harbor.

As always the docks were bustling with customers, yelling and the peculiar smell of dried fish and other provisions. Seagulls came often, and there were a few Marines here and there. Silk ran a hand through her hair, trying to find Midnight, and walked to the sound of hammers on nails.

Howell was there, hammering some boards together. He was a tall Squid Fishman, and all of his hands…er, limbs were off either repairing some stuff or building. He had a small cigarette in his beak-like mouth, lightly smoking.

"I s'ppose you're 'Black Silk' Cain, eh? Marianne told me about you," he said, his low alto rumbling through the dock. She nodded, looking for her boat. She called it a caravel, but really it was closer to a mistic, a tiny boat with two masts. She saw it and smiled. It was wooden with metal supports inside, and she was constantly rebuilding it. Some parts, she knew, were pieces stolen from old ships that she had salvaged on some of the islands, and some she was pretty sure was part of 'Adam', the dream tree for all shipwrights. Another interesting thing about it was that it was small enough so that the wings she'd built for it really could propel it into the skies above. She'd used that as a method of escape many times. The wings (and tail, for stability) were modeled after bat's wings, with wooden 'bones' and canvas stretched between them to catch the passing thermals.

"Your ship there's pretty interesting," he said. "Took the liberty of looking around. Who designed it?" She shrugged.  
>"I did, in part, and my friend Paulie helped me refine it and make it actually float. He's from Water 7." Howell's eyebrow's raised at the mention of Paulie's name. Silk knew that her friend was pretty famous, or rather, infamous as being one of the best shipwrights but also the one in the most debt. Sometimes she helped him out with it. Brilliant with ropes, too, and nets.<p>

"Paulie, huh? Well, he did a good job with helping you. I fixed it up, patched up some bits. The right hull, though, it was pretty worn so I took the liberty of reinforcing it for you. The metal behind the wood, that's a smart idea. Perhaps not quite weigh-wise, but smart nonetheless. Just thick enough to act as a shield, but not enough so that the whole damn boat sinks. Maybe I'll try it next time. I notice that you don't fly any colors. Undercover Marine?" She snorted delicately.

"The Marines always put 'Top Secret Ship' on their spy ships. It makes me wonder just how many idiots there are running around. No, I'm not exactly a pirate, but I'm not a Marine. So, I don't have any colors yet." He shrugged.

"Alright. It's ready, by the way, any time you are. A storm's comin' soon, so it'd be best to set off before—what's that?" he cut himself off, looking back at town. She heard it took, the shouts of angry Marines.

"Maybe I'll wait till that storm of yours to push off," she smiled. "Midnight can wait." He shrugged, turning back to his work. She grinned, ran up the plank and put down the duffle bag, and rushed back to town.

The commotion, she saw, came from a boy in a Straw-Hat who was climbing the execution platform. He certainly looked like his wanted poster.

"So, Straw-Hat Luffy, huh?" she said quietly, pushing through the crowd. "Seems you're living up to your bounty. Reckless." Marines shouted at him, and her old friend Smoker.

"Hey, Smoki!" she called, and Smoker took one look at her and turned whiter than his hair.

"Dammnit! Black Silk!" he shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. She eventually pushed herself close enough to be seen separately. "What the hell are you doing here?" She laughed.

"To aggravate you, Smoki," she said happily. "I still have that Sea Stone bracelet you borrowed from me! Why don't you try it—it goes wonderfully with your hair!" He growled, practically chewing his cigars to the nub.

"Shut up, criminal!" he screamed. Oooh, that smarts.

"Oh, cutting back on swear words, Smoki? Last time you called me a…what was it? Oh, an impertinent bitch. Nice to see someone's cleaned your mouth out," she smirked. Smoker's ears burned and steam started wafting from his head.

"Why you…"he started.  
>"Nuh uh uh," she said, smiling and shaking a finger at him. She grinned. The Marine captain was so <em>easy<em> to tease. It was almost laughable. He blew up so quickly…

"Get a Devil Fruit already, so I can kill you!" he screamed. She laughed, and swung the Sea Stone bracelet that she'd mentioned before (she always carried it in her pocket).

"Get a life already, so I can actually tease you without you blowing up," she called back. "I know you blow up only because you're jealous." His eye started twitching, and she laughed, glancing up at the platform, where the Straw-Hat kid was standing up, looking around.

"It's so high up here!" she heard him say excitedly. She giggled softly, looking back at the crowd. Having him up there was probably really tempting for many people…ah! She spotted a hooded figure, who she easily identified as Buggy the Clown. I mean, who wears a hat with a hood? Ta~acky.

And another hooded figure she knew was 'Lady' Alvida. She had gotten thinner, but the cowgirl hat was unmistakable. She backed into the crowd, blending in before she set down the suitcase and took out two of her water pellet guns. Checking the magazines, she confirmed that they were full. She had plenty more, anyway. She stuck one in her leather strap belt and the other one twirled around her left index finger as her right drew her katana. Unknown to most people, she was slightly ambidextrous, but was better with her sword with her right hand and better at aiming with her left. Silk could smell a fight. She guessed that Buggy and Alvida had a bone to pick with Straw-Hat, and that they would probably try and kill him.

She was distracted from her thoughts when she felt a drop of something cool gently roll down her cheek. She looked up and saw that it was beginning to rain. She smiled as the clouds made her one visible eye darken, turning a mildly tarnished silver, only a few shades lighter than the snake of her earring dangling on her right ear. The smile's innocence slowly drained, becoming feral and demonic as both challengers stood up, Buggy flying up to the platform and using some sort of stock-like device to pin Straw-Hat to the wood floor of execution platform, securing Straw-Hat's arms and head while Alvida simply watched and proclaimed her 'love' to Luffy in one lo-ong monologue. Silk's hand twitched like a hunting cat's tail would, waiting for the moment to strike and unleash hell.

**Author's Note: And thanks for reading! The poll is still going on, so go ahead and let me know which pairing you want! Right now, LuNa has 2 votes and Ronji has 1 vote.**

**Thanks, and have a happy new year! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Bitterness**

**Author's**** Note: More on Lougetown! Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

There were shouts as Buggy's crew revealed themselves. _How does their makeup not smudge in this rain?_ she thought, lightly spinning the loaded pistol on her index finger. Buggy, grossly misusing the adjective 'flashy', prepared to execute Straw-Hat. Behind her, two paths suddenly began to open up as two men, one blond with a cigarette clenched between his teeth, the other (whom she recognized from the bar, the one who had been able to drink a bottle of hard sake and still be sober) muscular and holding three swords, cut Buggy pirates down with an efficiency that would've been astonishing had she not been with the Whitebeard pirates before. Still, for being such a new crew, they were well coordinated. They both shouted half-angrily, half-desperately at Straw Hat when the kid said, "Zoro! Sanji! Nami! Usopp! Sorry, but…I'm dead!" Silk couldn't help but laugh convulsively at that. The kid reminded her of what Whitebeard had told her about Gol D. Roger, even down to that straw hat that Roger had when he was younger, before he passed it on to one of the 4 pirate Youku, or Emperors, Red-haired Shanks. Straw Hat had realized that there was no way out, came to terms with his death and smiled.

The rescue team was too late, though, as Buggy had already raised his saber, and began to bring it down in an arc when a flash of lightning suddenly arced down and struck the platform. Buggy was down, but not the kid. Silk drew two conclusions: the kid had eaten a devil fruit (probably a lightning one) or the wood held him down and protected him from the lightning. Either way, that kid had the devil's luck.

Seeing Alvida start towards Luffy, Silk decided to join in the fray. Quickly cocking the pistol, she shot both of the Smooth-Smooth woman's legs, causing her to fall to her knees, gasping.

* * *

><p>"What!" Alvida shrieked, shocked that something had penetrated her after she'd eaten that Devil Fruit. Looking back, her eyes widened at that familiar silhouette. "You…" she hissed angrily.<p>

"Me," was the cocky answer.

"Black Silk Cain…what are you doing here?" the woman demanded, and the hypnotizing laugh came again.

"I'm here to watch the show, Alvida," was the sugar-sweet reply. Alvida ground her teeth.

"How did you manage to shoot my legs? Bullets can't hurt me!" A sweet, innocent smile flashed on the pale skin as a slender, tapered finger—pianist's fingers—twirled a pistol.

"I didn't use bullets. I used sea water pellets. Rather useful against Hammers, neh?" Silk smirked, sheathing her katana in one smooth motion.

"How…why…"she sputtered, struggling to find the right words. Silk ignored her, walking past to the Straw-Hats. Alvida's temper overflowed. She struggled to get to her feet, and then pointed a pistol at Silk and fired, sure that the bullet would find its mark and at least give her a painful injury, if not kill her outright. But Silk, in one smooth, coordinated motion, swung her katana back delicately and gently deflected the bullet with a ring as metal caught metal, but the katana was unscathed. Her silver eye, tarnished by the dark clouds, icily regarded Alvida, the smooth alabaster of her face hardening into cold, unfeeling marble. Any trace of mercy or amusement fled her visible eye.

"A wound in one's back is a sign of cowardliness," the smooth voice, now devoid of human warmth, recited. "And to be the one who tried to strike that blow…" she said, turning as the words hung in the air and slashing Alvida with the back of her blade, "is to be worthy of nothing." Alvida crashed to the ground, knocked unconscious as Silk finished her sentiment.

"Not even death."

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><p>Silk turned to the Buggy Pirates, who were looking at her as if she had just crawled up out of a crack in the ground, from Hell. She fully expected that, maybe even anticipated that. There was a reason why her head was worth 397,000,000 beli, one of the highest in the world.<p>

"B-Black Silk?" they whispered, stammering with fear. She had easily dispatched Alvida, whose bounty was only 5,000,000. There were stories about her, which she of course knew. They consisted of how she'd been born on the Grand Line and was thrown into the sea by a mistake and had survived by feeding on the milk of a Sea King, who either didn't notice her or mistook her as one of her own. She was the offspring of the Lord 'Akuma' and his wife Angelicus, but some said that 'Akuma' had fashioned her out of seaweed, a piece of black silk and a stone of alabaster, and pour Sea King blood diluted with ocean water over her, which brought her to life and gave her extraordinary strength. She had consumed no Devil Fruit, but the government had spotted her at the tender age of 12 and tried to recruit her, which she refused, and the Marines offered her a post with their Shichibukai when her bounty reached 130,000,000, which she also declined. Her youth made her enemies underestimate her, but as they had just witnessed, she was more than capable of handling things herself. Some whispered that her skill with _Shikaeshi no sakebi _(Screaming Revenge) was almost on par with the Shichibukai Dracule Mihawk.

"Is there any other bastard who wants to try their luck?" she asked, her voice immersed in venom, her eyes sweeping over the crowd with a cruel efficiency that promised a very, very painful death. No one moved a muscle, and she sheathed her sword, stuffing her Sea Stone guns and bracelet in her pockets, and walked off, picking up her metal suitcase along the way.

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><p>Smoker, obviously snapped out of his daze after seeing Straw-Hat smile at his execution and seeing Silk's wrath unleashed, shouted orders for some of the Marines to try and stop Silk, but to no avail. When she saw them, they were done for. She left the street, leaving behind a dozen heavily injured men. Seeing that her capture was impossible, he went by himself to capture Straw-Hat. He cursed Silk, Straw-Hat, Buggy, Alvida and all the other pirates seven times over, as his men sweatdropped at their captain's furious look and colorful language.<p>

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><p>Silk hadn't gotten half-way to the docks when the three pirates, now grown to five, began to catch up with her.<p>

Straw-Hat himself was yelling at her to join his crew, looking for all the world a mixture of a puppy with a treat and a kid that just saw something amazing. His eyes were sparkling with admiration. Okay, maybe it was really cute. But still. She wanted to slap the silly brains out of him, but doubted it would do much if she did.

Speaking of Hammers and the violence she had used when dealing with them, she had tried to slap Ace once, when he fell asleep on her in a narcoleptic fit. All 1-2 hundred pounds of him easily outweighed her light frame, and she fell to the deck. Angrily, she'd tried to slap him awake. Eventually, he did wake up, but not before her hand had become severely burned, since his cheek would sometimes flare up. The ship doctor easily patched her up, but she'd stayed far out of Ace's reach unless it was to kick him with her steel-toed boots for a week, before Thatch and Marco finally broke her down.

The green-haired three swords, who she now recognized as Roronoa Zoro, a prominent (and former) bounty hunter of the East Blue, followed Straw-Hat closely. She couldn't hear what he was yelling, but it didn't sound too happy. Oh, well.

The other guy she'd seen at the square, who she deduced to be Sanji, was following next to Zoro, for some reason with a heart replacing his visible eye. She didn't know why it was there, and had a feeling she didn't want to know.

The other two who had joined on the way was an olive-skinned, skinny teenager with an overly long nose and black, curly hair and a busty, mikan-haired girl. He looked terrified at the small, pale figure chasing all of them. The girl looked scared, too, but mainly angry at Straw-Hat.

Hoping to loose them, she ducked into an alleyway, but found it closed. Angrily, she snapped open her briefcase, grabbed a grappling hook and threw it up and pressed the retract button just as they entered the alley. She sprang to the roof, pushed the grappling hook in her pocket and closed the briefcase after she pulled out a better grappling hook, never breaking her stride. She knew the way to the docks, and took comfort in knowing that she could have Midnight up and running in three minutes flat. Glancing back, she saw only the original three, but Sanji was helping up the two others.

Seeing Straw-Hat grin like that ticked her off. She needed to get away…she skidded once she saw the main street, where the buildings were too far away for her to run, but she needed to get across if she wanted to keep her path to the docks.

"Shishishi!" she heard the straw hat bearing captain laugh. Growling, she decided to throw caution to the winds and jumped, rolling as she landed. Ice-cold smoke surrounded her, tickling her throat and making her cough. She grabbed her Sea Stone knife and slashed wildly, causing the smoke to immediately draw back as Smoker examined the cuts on his arms. The Straw-Hats landed somewhere pretty close.

"Get out of my way, Smoker," she said dangerously. She was still pretty mad at Alvida, and the Straw-Hat kid had done nothing to alleviate that.

"Sorry, kid. Higher ups are getting tired of you running around like that." She gave him a dark, dark look that promised so many painful things.

"Then the higher ups can jolly well come and get me," she hissed. "Get _out_ of my way, Smoker. I won't be responsible for my actions if you don't," she said, drawing _Sakebi_ and flicking it out, the point unwaveringly aimed at his heart. Smoker stood there for a while, before his eyes softened on the smallest bit.  
>"Fine," he growled. "Leave me Straw-Hat, and I'll find a way to explain it to the higher ups." Silk nodded curtly, already headed to the docks, her katana finding its way into its sheath, leaving the Straw-Hats at Smoker's mercy.<p>

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><p><strong>Author's Note: And Chapter 6 is finished! A note on Silk: she's sort of like Zoro in the sense that they're both very true to codes of honor, but that's just because they both are swordsman. She learned her codes from...well, someone. :D Also, <strong>**I won't put in Straw-Hat's battle with Smoker in—Silk isn't involved in it, so I see no point in putting it in. I may alter the canon to fit in Silk, but it'll stay pretty true to the manga, and maybe I'll put in one or two filler anime arcs. It'll depend, on what I feel like and what you guys think.**

**Anyway, have a good day!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: This one's a little shorter, so I'm posting this today. :D Oh, yeah. My review counter thingy seems to be broken—I only see 6 reviews…oh well. **

**_UPDATE:_ Yay! The review-counter's not broken!**

**UnperfectButLovingIt: Here it is! I'm so happy you're so enthusiastic about my story!**

**Yamiroo Alice: I'm so happy that you like it! Thank you for the review!**

**Enjoy this chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

The docks sped towards her vision, and she saw Midnight. She raced across the docks and into the small 'caravel'. Once she was on, she grabbed the duffle bag, rushed into the cabins and found the navigation room. Dumping everything off, she started up everything. Luckily, the wind had picked up a tailwind and she was able to start off quickly.

She smiled softly, looking more peaceful than she cared to know. She adjusted some of the instruments, before pushing the 'Auto' button, one of the special features Pauli had created for her. Carefully, she touched the large screen in the desk, and a map of the Grandline came up. She zoomed in and then touched the screen with a special stylus and traced out a careful path to Reverse Mountain. The system beeped, and she grinned, scooping up the bags and walked to her personal cabin.

The room she opened up to was beautiful. A comfortable hammock swayed gently, suspended from the ceiling next to a window. A small closet stood, and next to it was a screen where she could change. A bathroom was directly connected to it, and it had the most amazing tub ever. A desk was pushed into the corner, with papers and books strewn about, and a small picture frame hung on the wall. She dumped her bags in the closet and pulled down the picture.

Inside the small time capsule, a man and a woman stood swinging a child between them. The man was handsome and smiling, the 'X' scar on his cheek giving him a slightly brash appearance. He looked lovingly at the woman, who was smiling back, the simple turn of her lips lighting up her face in a way that the photo had only captured a fraction fo that light. The small girl in between had a huge grin, obviously giggling with joy. It was a picture of what she had drawn, when her mother and father were still alive. Smiling, she talked to it.

"Hi Mom, Dad. How's it been for you two? Same old, huh? Well, I just came back from another adventure, and have I got the story to tell you guys…"

* * *

><p>The Straw-Hats managed to get on Merry and set off, but they couldn't help but notice Luffy's downcast manner.<p>

"Oi, get over it," Zoro said roughly, leaning against the wall. "You'll get more people for your crew." Luffy pouted.

"No, I want her on my crew! She's really, really strong!" Usopp shivered.

"Luffy, don't you know who she is?" Luffy shook his head. "She's 'Black Silk' Cain!" Usopp shivered, then started telling all he knew about the infamous pirate.

"She's a demon! She doesn't have any Devil Fruit, but she's so intelligent that she's got one of the highest bounties in the world! It's almost 400 million beli! And they say that she's not human—no one can be, with a bounty that high. Rumor has it that her father was Lord 'Akuma', a famous pirate born in Gold Roger's time! Supposedly, he took a block of alabaster, a piece of black silk, a ruby and a silver piece, and seaweed and poured Sea King blood over it, and there she was! Not only that, but she had fallen into the ocean when she was very little, and a Sea King nursed her back to health. She's a pitiless murderess and her thirst for blood can never be assuaged! Her skill with her sword is on par with lots of expert swordsmen! Not to mention that she can destroy a fleet of Navy ships singlehandedly and come out alive, and she hasn't even eaten a Devil Fruit! She's too dangerous!" Usopp finished, shivering. Luffy grinned wildly.

"That's why I want her to come on my crew!" he said happily. "Besides, she can't be as bad as they say. I mean, they said lots of stuff about Zoro and he's okay," Luffy said, patting Zoro's head. The santouryuu swordsman just grunted, trying to get to sleep and also processing what Usopp had said. That girl had spouted the same stuff that Sensei had always beat into his head, and the way she had deflected the bullet reminded him of Dracule Mihawk. _Maybe…_

Then Nami came in, with news about the entrance to the Grandline and its entrance.

* * *

><p>Silk smiled as she saw the familiar shape of Reverse Mountain. She walked to the navigation room and switched off Autopilot. Reverse Mountain was tricky to navigate even for the computer that Pauli had installed, and she didn't particularly want to die. Also, there was a certain amount of respect that Reverse Mountain commanded, being the entrance to the Grandline, and also to her birth home.<p>

Grabbing the wheel, she gently steered it towards the racing river. With a happy laugh, she eagerly started towards the top, where an old lighthouse keeper took care of a giant whale.

* * *

><p>Silk wiped her forehead and pressed the button that would let down the anchor. The currents had been a little harder to navigate this time, but nothing she couldn't handle. She may not have been as freakishly strong as Whitebeard oji-sama, or either of her Nii-samas, but the ocean currents had nothing on her. Grinning, she ran out of the cabin and saw the familiar black head rising up to the sky.<p>

"Laboon!" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth to make an impromptu megaphone. The whale turned around until his huge black eye saw her.

"BOOOH!" he called, and she laughed.

"Still that loud, huh? I swear, you got bigger since I was away!" she said, hugging what she could of the gigantic whale, who smiled and responded with another "BOOH!"

"Silk!" she heard, and turned to see Crocus on the cliff, waving. She laughed, using the grappling hook in her pocket to get her up there.

"Crocus!" she said, hugging the old lighthouse keeper. He laughed, and held her at arm's length.

"You look as healthy as ever," he proclaimed, smiling as he walked to his lawn chair. She matched his smile, sitting down on the hard rock.

"Same to you, and Laboon. You need to tell him to stop growing so big, or else he'll plug up the entire river and then where will I be? I'll have to cross the Calm Belts to get here," she teased, and he laughed, but stopped when he saw another ship on the way.

"Hmm? What's that?" he said, looking over with binoculars, but had to stop when Laboon let out a mournful "BOOOH!"

"Oh, no," Crocus said. "Laboon's going to get started…" he said, immediately starting up his island boat. With a grin, Silk jumped on as well, and they quickly navigated into the mourning whale's mouth.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: And it's finished! A little foreshadowing, but I'm not revealing any secrets yet!<strong>

**And I almost forgot—I'm still taking votes for pairings! Please, guys, let me know, otherwise we'll just have LuNa, and maybe a little Ronji. Who knows, right? ;D Luckily, I have lots of LuNa references on the 'net…but if you don't like the pairings I have up here, well then review and let me know!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Heeey! Chapter 8 here, ready to rock and roll, and it's a heavy one! Over 2,000 words (yeah, not a big deal, I get the drift)! Ready, everyone?**

**WARNING: There is one f-bomb, dropped by none other than yours truly, Silk. That's it. And she has a legitimate reason.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

"CAN I KILL HIM?" Silk jolted from her short nap (for catnaps, she didn't have to take narcotics, thank heavens), hearing Zoro's voice. Rubbing her eyes, she got up from her spot by the house, smirking as Crocus successfully irritated the swordsman.

"Don't loose your temper, marimo," Sanji said snarkily, mocking what the swordsman had said moments before.

* * *

><p>"Nice going, Crocus-san," she said, using the ending slightly teasingly. "Once again, you've successfully gotten another pirate crew to hate your guts. Can't you ever get one to like you for once?" Crocus smiled. He personally liked the girl, and had learned during her constant trips to and from the Grand Line how to navigate through the strange, tremulous waves of her personality and psyche. The girl may have had problems, but she could be relatively nice if she wanted to be. Either way, for some reason, 'Black Silk' Cain had a huge soft spot for Laboon, and could spend hours just talking to him, when the seas were rough or when she was too tired to keep going or when she had a particularly good story to tell him. And Laboon loved her too, always taking her for quick rides and singing along with her.<p>

* * *

><p>"I-i-i-it's y-y-y-you!" the tanned boy with the slingshot stammered, his legs shaking like leaves in a storm. Silk's eyebrow shot up as she put a hand on her hip.<p>

"It's who?" she asked calmly.

"You! Y-y-y-you're B-b-b-black S-s-silk C-c-c-Cain! The unholy demon of the seas!" he whimpered. Her head cocked.

"I don't recall ever calling myself that," she said musingly. Her thoughtful expression dissipated when she saw Sanji, who was twirling around, turning into one of disbelief and shock. Turning to look at the other crewmembers (sans Straw-Hat, which was strange…), she asked, "Er, does he do that all the time?"

"Yes," the orange-haired girl nodded, looking embarrassed. "Unfortunately."

"Anything for you, Nami-swaaaaan!" Sanji said, still twirling and now oozing hearts. Silk gave him an 'eeeeeh?' look, cocking her head. But before she could exactly phrase her question for the blond's sanity, Straw-Hat appeared, along with two people…who called themselves Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday.

"Baroque's Works members, eh?" she murmured to herself, before sighing, resting her forehead in the palm of her right hand.

"Oi, this whale's not for eating," she drawled, irritated. People. They thought that it was just a dumb animal, but right next to Sea Kings, whales had the highest intelligence among all creatures. She knew. After all, she'd studied them. And besides, Laboon…was special.

"Our town is starving!" the blue-haired lady protested, cocking her hip and resting her hand on her too-skimpy outfit. Silk's lip curled, before her hand fell away, her face shadowed but her eye shining out like demonic lights.

"W-wha…" was the general consensus as the temperature dropped rapidly.

"Do I look like I give a fuck-a-row if all of you idiots back there at your frikin' lazy town die?" she snarled, a dark, chilling aura stealing through the area. The weird pair shook like leaves.

"C-can she use…h-haki?" Ms. 'Wednesday' stuttered, her eyes wide and her pupils small while Silk looked like she could happily watch the world burn.

"Hm, I dunno, actually," she said conversationally, her hand falling naturally to her sword, a thumb popping it out of its sheath in a movement the Straw-Hats had seen Zoro perform many times. Lightly, she jumped from the island-boat to the railing of the Merry Go. "But when people make me mad and threaten my friends, who include Laboon, the whale that you so dearly wish to murder in cold blood, well, I lose my temper a little," she said, a purely evil grin curling her mouth. Usopp fell down in a dead faint, and Nami hid behind Zoro. Even Sanji and Zoro looked a little frightened, although Sanji was still whispering words of 'love' and Zoro…well, he was watching her every move. Ever since he'd seen that katana hung familiarly on her hip and seen her deflect Alvida's bullet with the gentle motion that he'd seen Hawkeye perform, he'd watched her, wanting to try his skill against hers. Crocus simply shook his head, and Luffy was simply watching, his hat shading his eyes.

"Y-you…but even you, 'Black Silk', cannot stand against the might of Baroque's Works! We'll take your head, and get a promotion at that!" the two said, either recklessly or courageously. If it was possible, Silk's face grew even darker, mild humor edging it.

"Go ahead," she all but purred, a sly, almost _seductive_ smile curling on her lips. "Go ahead and try. I'll give you both five seconds before I attack." In answer, the odd pair fired their bazookas at her.

"AUGH!" Usopp freaked out. "They did it! They're gonna DIE!"

A flash of metal came from the cloud of smoke, and both bazookas lay in hundreds of neat pieces, their owner's hands cut. Zoro's eyes widened. Those bazookas had been made of _steel_. She-she could cut through metal! The pair fell down and cried out, clutching their hands. As the smoke cleared, it was clear that Silk had both dodged each bullet and hadn't moved from her spot.

"Five seconds are over," she hissed, her tongue darting out to lightly lick the bloody edge of her blade. "My turn."

It was hardly a fight. In mere seconds, the pair lay unconscious on the deck, while the two more faint-hearted Straw-Hats hugged each other in utter terror, while the cook and the unofficial first mate tensed for a fight. Luffy still stood there impassively, watching. Silk sighed, sheathing her blade.

"They didn't even deserve the flat of my blade," she complained, sitting down on the railing and looking at the defeated pair. "Pathetic. You'll have to do better than that." She stood up and turned around, but before she could jump off the caravel, Luffy spoke up.

"Wait," he said. Silk half-turned, raising an eyebrow at him. He tilted his hat back and gave her his trademark grin. "Hey! Join my crew!" he said enthusiastically. Silk smiled and huffed, crossing her arms and raising her eyes to the shadowed ceiling of Laboon's stomach.

"Why do I always run into the idiots that don't know when to give up?" she asked Laboon, but he didn't hear her, obviously. Looking back at the young captain, she replied patiently. "Like I was telling you back at Lougetown, I'm not gonna." This time, it was the green-haired guy, Zoro, who spoke up.

"Why, you too good to be a pirate?" he asked, a tiny smirk lifting a corner of his mouth. Silk's eyebrow hiked up a few notches.

"That's strange coming from you, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro," she said, sitting back down on the railing in a smooth movement. "I would've asked you the same question had I been there when you answered Straw-Hat's request. Doubtless, it would have been a wonderful story. However, I won't. Anyway, the World Government considers me a pirate. A misnomer, perhaps, but all criminals seem to end up with that label in their eyes." She chuckled a little darkly.

"Y-yes!" Usopp said, hiding behind the mast. "N-n-now g-get off our ship and don't come back!" This time, Silk sweatdropped, seeing the trembling figure, before she threw back her head and laughed out of pure humor.

"Yes, I'm so terrified of the poor teenager hiding behind the mast," she said, her good mood extending to light, teasing sarcasm. "Should I scream now?"

"W-why, yes…hey!" Usopp came around from the mast, looking at her angrily. "I'll have you know I'm a proud man, and I don't let people laugh at me!" Silk's smile never moved.

"Hmm," she hummed. "You know, many people who've approached me after I got my bounty said that. And what do you think happened to them? Still…I'll allow you one shot. One shot and then five minutes to convince me I shouldn't rip your spine out of its housing and beat you to death with it," she smiled. Usopp sweatdropped, knowing from all the stories exactly what Silk did with her challengers. But he still drew back his slingshot.

"Certain Kill…Fire Star!" he shouted. She raised an eyebrow, but simply batted it away with her bare hands.

"That's an interesting attack, but the overall impact is weak. Try making it explode on impact—preferably with oil inside, or maybe quicklime. That way, enemies won't be able to bat it off quickly. Even better, make it so that it really flares just before the attack, so your enemy gets the full impact," Silk said easily.

"Really? Hm…wait, why am I taking advice from _you_!" Usopp cried, quite confused.

"Because it's good advice," Silk said, grinning. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a ship to catch." She jumped down, but didn't land on the island. A rubbery, tanned hand was firmly grasped on her upper arm.

"Wait! You still didn't answer me!" Luffy said. Silk smirked up at him.

"I did. I told you no." She turned her attention back to the island, mentally calculating the force she would need to jump over onto land. After some careful consideration, she kicked the ship's hull, flat footed, and landed exactly where she wanted. Unfortunately, the arm started to retract, and she was pulled back, her head knocking the hull.

"OI, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" she snapped. "I already told you I wasn't coming—now get your hand off me before I _do_ kill you!"

"Sorry, but I've decided! You're joining my pirate crew!" Luffy said with a huge grin. Silk groaned, and looked for Crocus, but he was coming back from injecting Laboon with some sedatives to make him stop banging his head against the Red Line.

"We can go back out, Silk," he said oblivious to the girl's predicament.

"Tch," Silk said, her eyes shadowed. A second later, she lightly landed on Crocus's island-boat, and Luffy was staring at his arm, which had a dozen shallow cuts on it.

"It HURTS!" he said. Nami sighed, wrapping his arm.

"What's the big idea?" Usopp cried, looking at the slim girl.

"He wouldn't let me go!" Silk said simply, closing her eyes as she rested against the palm tree. "Anyway, you're lucky I didn't use any Sea Stone," she huffed. "I don't suffer stubborn idiots very well."

"Still that was no reason to dice up his arm!" Usopp said, his legs shaking. Silk blinked, wide eyed, before she laughed again, and didn't stop until they came out of Laboon.

"Ugh! How were we beaten by her?" Mr. 9 complained. "One day, we will come back and we will kill that whale! Be prepared! Bye bye, Baby!" With that, the pair swam away.

Silk just continued laughing, secure in the knowledge that Laboon and Crocus could take care of themselves. And besides, whenever she was there, she'd protect them. Always.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: And it's done! Well, since I haven't gotten any reviews against it, I'll start inserting LuNa and a dash of Ronji, well, when Robin gets there. But for the next chapter, there really isn't much interaction that could prompt a LuNa realization…we'll have to see. Anyway, I want to introduce an idea to you guys! For every 10th chapter, I'd like to make a special event for those. It can be omakes, it can be random crack, etc. For Chappie 10, I'm thinking Q &amp; A with Silk. What do you guys think, and start submitting your questions! She's waiting!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Alright, it seems that you guys don't mind (Thanks UnperfectButLovingIt for reviewing), so I'll just continue with the plan! Please submit all questions for Silk by…oh, probably tomorrow, so that we can get a decent-length chapter, m'kay? Anyway, this chapter has a grand total of 3 flashbacks, and more Straw-Hat antics!**

**Reviews:**

**UnperfectButLovingIt: Ah, thanks! I'm happy you liked the last chapter. I'll be sure to put in your question and ask Silk!**

**Warnings: None!**

**Enjoy, everyone!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

Silk yawned, and jumped off of Crocus's island boat onto the ledge. Seeing Laboon, she smiled and hugged what she could, before sitting down on the ledge, well within the black whale's eyesight.

"So, Laboon, you wanna hear about my last trip? Well, you see…"

* * *

><p>Crocus finished telling the Straw-Hats about Laboon's past, and saw Silk talking to Laboon. The black whale was listening raptly as the pale girl painted scenes before him, like she did best.<p>

"What connection does Silk have with the whale, old man?" the girl named Nami asked. He smiled, remembering that day.

* * *

><p>"<em>Who are you?" he asked the little girl in the broken skiff. She looked defiantly up at him, and he decided she could be no older than perhaps 12.<em>

"_What's it to you, old man?" she demanded._

"_Nothing, except that a child like you shouldn't be running around the Grand Line, especially if she couldn't even get up Reverse Mountain without her boat breaking." The child's face flushed._

"_Can I stay here for a few days? I can fix my boat by then," she said stubbornly. He raised an eyebrow. The boat was cut in half. Even in its once-whole state, it still didn't look seaworthy._

"_Alright then," he said, seeing Laboon surface. Already there were quite a few scars on his forehead._

"_BOOH?" the whale asked._

"_W-what's that?" the girl asked, looking up at Laboon._

"_That's a whale," he said simply. "His name is Laboon. He's an…orphan, you might say." The girl's eyes flickered with something when he said orphan, but revealed nothing._

"_Laboon, huh?" was all she said as she turned back to hammering her ship back together._

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><p><em>A few hours later, Crocus came back out of the lighthouse to check on Laboon again. He was surprised to see the girl, her carpenter work three-quarters finished, talking quietly to Laboon.<em>

"_So you've got no one but that old man, huh Laboon? I know how you feel…all I've got is a frail old lady back at Lougetown. It's lonely, huh?" She suddenly brightened, as she reached out a hand and started stroking Laboon's smooth skin. "So that's why I'm on an adventure! I've already tested the ocean—I found an island, you know, and a whole bunch of treasure! I'll go all around the world, because sometimes it's not as lonely a place as you think it is. And you know what, Laboon? I've already got a bounty on my head! You see, the Marines really want to keep me 'safe', but I refused! Besides, I'm a daughter of two of the most feared pirates in the world—I'd never be able to rest easy! So I'm gonna search the world, and I'll find the Island of Dreams, Raftel, and I'll prove to everyone that it's really there! I don't wanna be the Pirate King, cause that just sounds like more work. But I heard a legend that there's lots of documents from the Lost Island, from eons ago, and they have all sorts of stuff there, like mechanical wings and electric devices. I wanna go and see what kind of inventions they have!" Crocus couldn't refrain from chuckling, and her head whipped around._

"_A nice dream, youngster," he said. She just looked down, almost as if she was embarressed. He smiled._

"_Did I ever tell either of you that I was the doctor on Gol D. Roger's ship?" Wide-eyed, they both shook their heads as he began._

* * *

><p>"<em>WHEE! L-LABOON, DON'T SWING AROUND SO FAST! I'M GONNA FALL!" Crocus opened his eyes from where he'd been sunbathing in his lawn chair, to see the tiny form of Silk (she had told him to call her that, since that was what was on her poster) clinging to Laboon's head. The whale was smiling and gently turning around the seas of Reverse Mountain. For what he suspected to be a rare occasion, Silk's face had lost any trace of anything but childish joy and wonder. He closed his eyes again, hearing the girl's happy shrieks rise up to the cloudless blue sky.<em>

* * *

><p>"And ever since, Silk's been the best friend Laboon could hope for. Besides, unlike his other friends, she's kept her promise to him." He sighed, thinking of the pirates who had stopped at Reverse Mountain and asked him to take care of a tiny whale.<p>

"Wow. She really seems to like him," the hamaraki-wearing kid said. Crocus nodded.

"When she heard that he was being targeted by the inhabitants of Whiskey Peak, she absolutely blew up. I've never seen so angry. I think that she shares a lot in common with the whale." The pirates were pretty quiet, until the blond kid, Sanji, found out that their captain, Luffy, had eaten all of the food he'd set out. Crocus sighed. Youngsters these days…

* * *

><p>Silk's eye twitched when she saw the Annoying Pair appear again along with Sanji and Luffy. A hand curled around her katana hilt as one naked, one concealed eye watched them carefully. If they put so much as <em>one hand<em> on Laboon, so help her…

Luckily for them, they made no move to the whale. Instead, they groveled to the girl, Nami, to bring them to Whiskey Peak. In the meantime, Silk readied her own ship. It only had one deck and a hold, along with the house where the navigation room, the bathroom, the kitchen and her own living quarters were situated.

Looking up at the empty mast above the crow's nest, she got an idea. She rushed to her living quarters and found what she had been looking for. Easily climbing up the mast ropes, she tied it on. A plain black silk flag unfurled and flapped in the gentle breeze. She grinned, then jumped from the crow's nest to the deck of her ship. Judging by the waves, it was a good time to leave Reverse Mountain. If the seas were calm here, then it wouldn't be as bad when she left.

She heard a huge yell, and saw Straw-Hat plant a mast on the top of Laboon. In any other situation, she would've pummeled the kid, but…somehow, she knew that if he really wanted to kill Laboon, he would've done much worse…he did know the way inside. His crewmates, however, might kill him for ripping off their mast.

She couldn't stop a smile from creeping onto her face when Luffy made that promise to Laboon. While Luffy and his crewmates started prepping their ship, she walked up to Laboon.

"Aww…did he hurt you? No? Alright then, I won't clobber him later." She sighed. "Another promise, huh? I hope you didn't forget mine…"

* * *

><p>"<em>Hey, Laboon!" Laboon looked at the little girl, floating in her tiny, hastily repaired boat. "Crocus told me your story, you know, about the two year promise with the music pirates, right? Well, guess what, Laboon? I'm gonna make you another one!" She had his full attention, as he stared right at her, his huge eye looking like the sun next to a tiny, strong star. "I'll come back soon, in maximum a month! And I'll keep coming back, Laboon, until you're an old whale and I'm an old lady! And I promise I'll never just leave you without saying goodbye, ya hear? I promise that no matter what, I'll make sure to at least say goodbye to you so you know when I'll be gone, cause one day maybe I'll get caught up in a tsunami or a thunderstorm or maybe I'll pick a fight with someone too strong for my own good, and then I'll be dead! But I promise that I won't die without coming back here and letting you know that I'm dead! I swear, Laboon, that I won't ever abandon you!"<em>

* * *

><p>When she finished saying her 'see-you-later's to Laboon, she hugged Crocus again. Looking at the Straw-Hat Pirates, she saw that they were practically ready to set sail.<p>

"Hey, Silk! I still want you to join my pirate crew!" Luffy shouted. Silk sighed, knowing that she'd have to play 'that card' again.

"My answer still hasn't changed, but…I guess I can travel with you guys for a couple islands," she said. She didn't mean it, of course. What she really meant to say was "Sure, I'll travel with you guys only so long as it takes to get to a real island with a relatively good weather forecast, and then I'm bailing." To her surprise, Roronoa Zoro suddenly grinned in a manner that reminded her of Luffy and chuckled, making only a half-hearted attempt at covering it with his hand. It was funny, how it suddenly lit up his face with the same mirth as Luffy's constantly did. "What's so funny?" she questioned him, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," he said, laughing. "Except these next few days might turn out different than you expected." She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as Nami and Sanji helped her tie the tow ropes. She grabbed a hold of one of the thick ropes and easily climbed up it.

"So we're off to Whiskey Peak, huh?" she said, smiling out at the sea. "Let's see how this works out…"

* * *

><p>Silk felt the temperature drop, and her head snapped up, looking for Nami, the navigator. She wasn't on deck, so Silk rushed into the kitchen.<p>

"It's starting," she said, smirking at the orangette, who gave her a funny look.

"What is it?" the navigator asked. A rather feral grin appeared on the older girl's face.

"Grand Line weather. Be prepared," was the reply as the girl jumped back to her ship. She was soon back, with a winter coat slung on her arm. And soon enough, it started snowing. Smiling, Silk shrugged the thick coat on.

"NAMI! IT'S SNOWING!" Luffy whooped, laughing like an idiot. He jumped a couple times, and Silk raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you have a coat on, Luffy-san?" she asked. The boy blinked at her for a couple minutes, before shivering.

"Brr! I'm cold!" he said. Silk facepalmed, feeling a large sweatdrop forming at the back of her head. Sighing, she searched the _Merry Go_'s hold, and came up with three jackets. Two she tossed to Luffy and Ussop, and was going to offer the third to Sanji or Nami, but noticed that Zoro was sleeping in the corner. Sighing at the odd timing of the swordsman's naps, she spread the last jacket across his chest. That should keep the frostbite out, at least. She took up the seat at the crow's nest, and cracked open one of her books. This one was about the explorer who first discovered Fishman Island. She had only been there once, but it had been a nice enough place. Her chest twisted about the thought of being tied down with a crew, unable to freely travel where her whims took her.

_Just until the next island,_ she consoled herself. _Only then can you ditch them and run off on your own. Just dock your ship next to theirs, get lost in the cities, and run back when they're not back yet._

_Only then._

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Does this actually count as a cliffhanger? Weeell, I'll just call it a pseudo-cliffie then. Anyway, so we're on our way to Whiskey Peak! The next story chapter should cover at least most of the arc. And just the itty-bitty-ist bit of ZoroSilk fluff! Oh, well. She's not too big on the entire concept of 'trust' and 'faith' and 'friendship'. Just as a clarification for some of you that might have gotten confused: Silk hasn't been to the New World yet. She's only gone as far as Fishman Island on the Grand Line, and has explored various parts of the North, South, and East Blue, but not the West Blue yet. This trip, she was going to sail pretty directly to Fishman Island and head on over to the New World, but now she's stuck with the Straw-Hats. Also, she's never actually sailed the entirety of Paradise, because she uses Eternal Posts to jump around if she wants to. Therefore, she's never been to Whiskey Peak or Little Garden, because her Log Posts have pointed to the other 6 paths, or she's used Eternal Posts to skip directly to where she wants to go.**

**Anyway, please submit your questions quickly! Silk's waiting for you all!**


	10. Omake 1: An Interview with Silk!

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: I…I only have two questions…I'm sorry…but on the plus side, here's a reward for the two who did review! UnperfectButLovingIt and Suffering From Love, you guys get to pick the plots for my next two omakes! Answer with a PM or a review, it doesn't matter to me~!**

**Reviews:**

**violentyetawesome: Thanks! Here's just a little interview, but the next chapter will be up soon (I hope)!**

**Suffering From Love: A…Sue? Oh, no. I'm so sorry—how is Silk a Sue? not good at characters…**

**ShoudaBeenGrace: I'm glad you liked them! Here's a quick interview with Silk!**

**ivyslade: Thank you! I'm glad you like her!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>EDIT 118/12: Since it is quite likely that FF . net will be gone if the internet censorship bill, SOPA, gets passed, if you would like to keep receiving chapters, please send me your email in a PM, or email me at nyxthenightgoddess (at) gmail . com (sans the spaces). BTW, that's my backup email, so if you want to just troll me, don't even try. I'm giving my (backup) email so that people who don't have accounts can still read it. Anyway, I'll be working hard on the next chapter (yes, the story caught up-gasp!) so that I can get it up hopefully before this site crashes. :) Peace, love and manga, guys. See ya all(hopefully soon), Will.**_

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Me: Welcome, all! This is an exclusive interview with Silk—

Silk: It's only exclusive because you don't have enough money to bribe me again.

Me: …True. Let's move on to the questions! *pulls out two envelopes* The first one is from UnperfectButLovingIt!

UnperfectButLovingIt: Q: has Silk ever actually ripped out a persons spine and beat them to death? just wondering

Silk: Hm…Well, there _was_ that one time when I was fighting a really tall Marine. I accidentally cut a section of his spine out—maybe, 3 to 5 feet in length. It was really flexible, too! So…I sort of…sheathed my sword and started hitting him…with it. I don't know for sure if he _died_ from it, per say…yeah, I did, okay? Sue me.

Me: Nice. Was it only that one time?

Silk: Yeah, basically.

Me: Cool. Here's one from Suffering From Love!

Suffering From Love: Dear Silk.  
>Do you think any of the Strawhat boys are sexy?<p>

Silk: …W-WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?

Me: Answer it.

Silk: Fine. Stupid author…Well, I don't like Ussop, or Luffy in that way…so the only people I could consider are Sanji and Zoro. Hm…well, they're both pretty well built…and…AUGH! I'm going to lose my mind if I answer that question! I don't know!

Me: Silk means: Yes, I think Zoro is—mmph!

Silk: *choking me* NO! DON'T LISTEN TO WHAT SHE SAYS! *breaks camera* THIS SHOW IS OVER!

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Aaaand that ended…disastrously. Oh, well. Anyway, thanks for reading this pitifully short chapter! See ya all soon!<strong>


	11. Chapter 10

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Alright, as far as I know, we're relatively safe from SOPA, but PIPA is still in question…so my offer stands. For anyone who didn't look back at the last chapter, the info's down below.**

**Reviews:**

**theheartstourniquet: Yes, Silk has a tendency to get mad when I start revealing trade secrets. :)**

**Warnings: Another swear word…and a pretty bad insult. Kiddies, avoid!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

The rest of the day was filled with the entire population on the _Merry Go_ (sans Zoro, who was fast asleep and wouldn't wake up) following orders from Nami to avoid getting absolutely crushed by the onslaught of storms and conflicting weather, with occasional quick breaks with Sanji giving out onigiri hurriedly for a quick fuel-up. It was evening time when the weather finally stabilized and everyone could take a break.

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><p>Silk was back up at the crow's nest, but in a different position—her back was on the ground, her arms half-splayed out beside her and her legs hanging over the edge of the nest tiredly. She was determined not to fall asleep yet, so her visible eye was dull and half-lidded. Her grey-white steel-toed boots were set aside, so her bare feet felt the light breeze. She groaned and pushed herself into a half-upright position, leaning against the mast with the lower-half of her legs still outside the actual bounds of the nest. Long fingers fiddled with her hair, twirling and playing with a stray lock around her fingers as she watched the horizon with one silver eye, her leather-bound book sitting off to one side, forgotten. Her eyes lazily wandered the horizon, her mind exhausted and just about ready to screw medication, she'd deal with the damn dreams…<p>

And then a familiar moss-head's voice floated up to her lofty perch.

"That was a good nap…hey, aren't you guys being a little too laid back? I mean, this is the Grand Line." A roll of the eyes from Silk thanks to the moss-head's obliviousness. There were shuffling sounds as he walked around, before stopping. "Who are you guys? I don't recall your names," he said, a slow, deliberate smile audible in his voice. He was likely creeping the Annoying Pair out, she decided, and enjoying it immensely.

"M-Mr. N-Nine," the crown-toting guy stammered.

"M-Mrs. W-Wednesday," the skimpily-dressed girl stuttered. A dark chuckle from Zoro made a tired smile flit onto her face as she heard him continue.

"Strange…I seem to recall hearing those names before…" he said creepily.

It appeared that a certain worn-out navigator, however, wasn't so good-humored.

A loud, painful smack was heard, and Silk winced, rubbing the back of her head. She _felt_ that. And she bet Zoro did, too.

"Ow! What was that for?" Silk covered her mouth with a hand, her body gently vibrating to her suppressed laughter. Sure, they were annoying. Sure, she was using them. But they were a scream.

"Did you have a _nice_ nap?" Nami hissed. "You wouldn't wake up! No matter how hard we tried!" There were a few more clonks, and a tiny glance down made her bite her lip harder, trying not to laugh. In the end, Zoro was toting a few ice-cream scoops on his head while Nami addressed the crew, giving them a pep talk that actually depressed them for a few minutes before she pointed out that they had reached their destination, which immediately revived everyone's spirits. The Annoying Pair jumped onto the deck and bowed dramatically.

"Thank you so much for bringing us back to our hometown," the guy said.

"We're very much in your debt. See you soon," the girl said.

"Bye, bye baby!" they said, jumping off the railing into the water below. Silk blinked, drawing her legs in and leaned over the walls of the nest.

"Wouldn't it have been easier just to wait until we reached land to jump off?" she asked no one in particular. And of course, no one answered.

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><p>As they sailed into the river, Silk noticed something strange. Nobody was running. No one was screaming, drawing weapons, or evacuating.<p>

If anything, the crowd around the river banks was _growing_, and the people were…

They were _cheering_.

Silk was immediately on edge. This wasn't natural. Even for towns that had been saved by pirates (there weren't very many of those). She carefully climbed down the rigging from the crow's nest, dropping the last 2 ½ feet to the deck. A quick, silent exchange with Zoro confirmed that at least _one_ crew member was thinking along the same lines as she was.

"Something's up," she said. He nodded, but didn't venture to say anything. It was then that she remembered that she wasn't part of the crew—in her mind, at least.

**I only need to stay in the town as long as it takes for me to get 'lost' and escape with Midnight, she thought. Usopp and Zoro…Usopp is already suspicious of me, and Zoro usually has some measure of logic. Good. Those two, plus Nami (who, in fact, is more logical than Zoro or Usopp), will be enough to ensure that the crew eventually reaches the most logical conclusion, which is that I ditched them. I have to be sure to leave nothing behind, though. A clean break will be quicker to heal.** She paused.

**Wait. Why am I so concerned about 'quicker to heal' and all that? Well, they are pretty powerful—if they come after me in the future, I have no idea what I'll be able to do…yeah, a clean break is the most logical action to take. But…what if…well, all those people have been welcoming us…so it's likely they'll have a party…perfect! Makes my job easier. I'll just get wrapped into a drinking contest and pretend to 'pass out' at…13 people. That's a good, sizable number, and safe, too. No matter if they bring their heaviest drinkers and strongest wine, I can take it sober. When everyone's distracted, I'll get up and make a run for it. With the provisions stocked, I'll make it to Arabasta fine, stay for less than a day, and go straight to Fishman Island. With the upgrades Pauli helped me make, it should be fine that I don't go to the Sabaody Archipelago to get Midnight coated. **

Noticing that they had just docked, she lightly jumped off the boat and landed on the river bank. An elderly man with huge rolls of hair walked up to greet them. She eyed the rolls of hair curiously, but ignored everything he said. It wasn't important to her, anyway. There were no threats, no pleads, nothing but a friendly greeting. One thing did stand out to her, though, was how he easily pushed aside Nami's question about the log post. _That does it,_ she thought. _Something's wrong. It's almost as if they want you to stay forever… _She didn't think it was likely, but then again, it was the Grand Line. Anything and everything could happen, and if you weren't prepared for it, consider yourself already 6 feet under.

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><p>The party was huge. No, to call it a party was an understatement. It was a damn <em>festival<em>. She guessed that the entire city was here. Looking around, she saw the Straw-Hats obviously enjoying themselves. Luffy had begun an unintentional competition with the chef, who was struggling to keep up with the black hole that was his stomach. Both Nami and Zoro had gotten hung up in drinking contests (they were both winning), Usopp was telling his lies to a group of admiring fans (which included a nun…weird…), and Sanji was…flirting? Whatever it was, it looked like he had his own harem. Ew.

Looking over my shoulder, there was a large table, with a lot of drinks. I smirked and grabbed a chair from a guy who had already passed out.

"You ready for a drinking contest, girl?" Big-and-ugly asked me. I gave him my best faux smile.

"If any of you pansies want to take me on," I said, "I might reconsider my first impression of you." One of them chuckled darkly and tightened his hand on his bottle, while I emptied one of the bottles with a swig.

"Really? And what might that first impression be, pretty girl?" I lifted the bottle off my lips and dropped it, showing them all that it was dry as a desert.

"That none of you have any fucking balls." I licked my lips and took another from a nearby crate. "Ready?"

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><p>46 bottles later, I was on my 11th opponent, Zoro was on his 10th, and Nami on her 12th. Sanji was practically faintingmelting over all the women, Usopp was still telling more tales, and Luffy had defeated a second chef. I put another bottle on the stack next to me and smirked at the guy across from me, who had an unhealthy flush on his face and was dribbling sake from his mouth. Big, tough, baldy couldn't handle his booze, huh? I gave him a smile.

"Oh, my. Maybe you'd better step down. You're wasting all that good sake," I said, making a little line with my finger that went from a corner of my mouth to my chin, mirroring the journey that the sake was taking. He shook with anger, but fainted before he could come up with a really biting comeback. I giggled—I couldn't help myself—and smiled at the rest of the group. "Anyone else?" As I guessed, they got pretty mad and a lightweight walked up and grabbed a bottle, but his fingers were shaking as they uncorked it. I took another bottle and ripped out the cork with my teeth in a practiced motion. I emptied it in thirty seconds and put it in the pile. The lightweight wasn't even a quarter finished with his bottle. I smiled and waited for him to finish. My eyes roved around the room, noticing the mayor guy was talking.

"Looks like this pirate crew knows how to have fun! Amazing! This guy outdrank 10 people! And this lady outdrank 12! Oh, and another lady has started on her 12th opponent! What a couple of heavy drinkers!" I smirked. If he knew the people that I did…well, let's say that he wouldn't be so quick to judge. "And their captain! He's eaten enough for 20 people! And this guy right here! He's flirting with 20 women at the same time! What a lady-killer!" I rolled my eyes and focused back on the lightweight. He had just choked down the rest of the bottle, and one of his fellows pounded his back. Smiling, I took another bottle. Before I pulled it open, though, I decided to play with my opponent a little more.

"You seem to be having a little trouble with your sake," I said. "Shall I slow down for you?" The lightweight blinked, shocked, then growled. He fumbled with the cork of his next bottle, and drank faster. This only came to his downfall, as his friends took him away, stone drunk.

**That's…number 13. Now, I'll just be half-way through this guy and then put my plan into action.**

Luckily for my plan, the guy that came next wasn't a lightweight.

"Hope you've gotten warmed up," he grunted. "After all, I _am_ this town's heaviest drinker." I didn't doubt him—his red nose and flushed cheeks told me all I needed to know. However, I knew that expert drinkers never let signs of their drink escape their sober appearance…once they had a little sake, though, all bets were off.

Halfway through the 5th bottle, I noticed that he was wavering, wavering. So I started slowing my intake, sometimes setting it down and taking a breath, as if I was nearing the end of my tether. Some of the guys cat-called and jeered, but I had endured worse. Even though _Sakebi_ was muttering darkly about blood and how soft their throats must be…I shook my head.

Right. I've neglected that explaination…

I'll save it for another day.

Anyway, after I pretended to pass out, I listened to the party. After about half an hour after I faked passing out, the party slowed down and eventually stopped. By the time it stopped, I noticed, every single one of the Straw-Hats were either asleep or they were award-winning actors. I waited until no footsteps were heard and all I could hear were the deep, gentle breathing of the Straw-Hats. I opened my eyes and slowly lifted my head, my eyes scanning the room. Not a conscious soul. Perfect. I tested my boots and was pleased to find out that they were quiet on this floor. I stole another bottle and walked out the back door. Halfway down the block, I realized that I had no idea who or what might be on the streets. With this in mind, I easily scaled up one of the houses, only to discover that a huge crowd had gathered at the front of the house that we had partied at. After making sure that none of them were looking my way, I leapt over to the next house, the light breeze bringing their words over to me.

"O how gently the moonlight washes o'er the majestic cactus rocks."

"I didn't know that you were a poet, Mr. 8" Mr. 8?

"No matter. The pirates will be sleeping soundly. They will not be a nuisance much longer. I've done my homework on this particular group. Their captain is worth 30 million beli. Also, one of the girls traveling with them, the older one, is 'Black Silk' Cain." Gasps were heard.

"Black…Black Silk? What is she doing with rookies?"

"I've never seen her in person…"

"Augh! She'll kill us all!"

"Silence, fools! Didn't you see her pass out from intoxication? She's probably boozed out of her brains right now." I desperately stifled my laugher. Thankfully, no sound came out.

"Anyway, we need to capture them alive—if we kill them, we loose 30% of the bounty. The government likes to give criminals public executions." I paused, then glanced back at the city. Damn. They didn't have sweepers. They had worse—roadblocks, and no Main Street, to boot. Not to mention that they were right in between me and the harbor. I'd have to fight them to get through. The group was…say, a hundred strong. I decided I liked those odds. After all, it wasn't like they were the Marine's best, either. Just a bunch of bounty hunters, with a few…lacking in height. Children too, huh?

A familiar male voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

"Would you mind letting them rest? They're tired after a long trip," Zoro said from the roof next to me.

"What! He escaped!"

"What is this? You were just passed out a moment before!" the guy with the rollers said. Zoro's grin stretched teasingly.

"A good swordsman never lets alcohol take control of him," Zoro proclaimed, reciting one of the maxims of swordsman, just as I had with Alvida. His intense, searching gaze told them all, _'I know something and you don't'_.

"There's about a hundred of you. Perfect. How do you feel like becoming my opponent tonight, Baroque Works?"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: And we're done! If my calculations turn out to be correct, then the Whiskey Peak arc will end by the end of the next chapter. The info I mentioned above is right here:<strong>

**If you would like to keep receiving chapters in the event that FF . net does get shut down, please send me your email in a PM, or email me at nyxthenightgoddess (at) gmail . com (sans the spaces). BTW, that's my backup email, so if you want to just troll me, don't even try. I'm giving my (backup) email so that people who don't have accounts can still read it. **

**One more question for all you readers: What do you want me to do about the rest of the arcs? Do you guys want me to create opponents for Silk to battle, or have her assist the other Straw-Hats, or do you guys just want me to go crazy and mess around with the arcs? Let me know what you think! Thanks everyone!**

**This is Will, signing off! See ya all in the next chapter!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Hey! Guess who's back from the dead! Yeah, school's back in for me. Whoo. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! :D**

**Reviews:**

**UnperfectButLovingIt: Yes, here it is!**

**nightange1: Thanks for your advice! I will definitely take it to heart! I'm glad you like it!**

**AntonioBP: My original idea was somewhere along that line, so that's great! Thanks!**

**Elle-Procrastinator: Thanks so much for your review. It really helped me, and I promise that there's a lot more character development coming up for Silk. To be honest, I also like namaka-ship. I'd like to see if I can include that, too. Thanks again!**

**theheartstourniquet: Yes. They are crazy. And the 'other guy's name is Zoro. :D Just sayin…and yes. Tacos are quite amazing. Glad you like it!**

**Alfie Timewolf: Thanks! I'm happy you like it!**

**WARNINGS: One swear word, one sort of swear word, screwing around with time because I can, and a whole buncha fluff at the end.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

"How do you know the name of our organization?" someone cried. Zoro's smile became feral.

"Back when I was in the same business as you, an organization tried to recruit me. A group that lies completely on secrecy. Where the members don't even know each other's names and go by code names. Baroque Works. Of course, I refused and the recruiter insulted me. So I killed him." His smile was now the pitiless, wide, friendly smile of an insane psychopath.

"Very well then. We have no choice," Mr. 8 said. "One more grave must be dug at Cactus Rocks!" I raised an eyebrow. So the spines on the cactus were gravestones, huh? Interesting way to display the town cemetery.

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><p>Thinking it over in my head, I decided that my chance to escape was shot. There was likely no way that I could get across the wide open space without someone spotting me, and I needed at least 3 minutes to get Midnight undocked and ready to sail. By then, the whole town would be after me. Not to mention a likely ticked swordsman. I was confident that I could hold off the townspeople. The ticked swordsman? Not so likely. Plus, the commotion would wake the others up. And I really didn't feel like high-tailing it out to sea today. Sure, I did that with the Whitebeard Pirates, but that was more like…how you'd chase your kid sister at Christmas when she stole one of your presents. Friendly, maybe a little competitive. With the newbies…who knows? Maybe one of them will finally get pissed off enough to start going for 'maim' instead of 'capture'. Or 'kill'. After observing the first mate for a week or so, I was pretty confident in my belief that he had two switches: 'off' and 'let's blow this shit to hell'. Anything in between was an impossibility for him. The guy was the embodiment of recklessness. His Captain was the human incarnation of stupidity.<p>

In short, the two heads of the ship were idiots. I feared for the saner ones.

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><p>Knowing that I had no other way out, I jumped onto his roof, landing on my feet. Zoro looked up at me with a raised eyebrow, and I knew that he'd known that I had been just one roof over. The guy was a freaking psychic. And damn insane, too. Still, I figured that maybe he could use someone to watch his back.<p>

"Figured you could use someone to make sure nothing screwed up," I said casually, toying with the handle of my blade. He grinned widely at me, and we both looked over at the crowd.

"Fine. But stay out of my way," he warned. I shrugged.

"Fine. Stay out of mine." I drew _Sakebi_, who hummed with excitement and bloodlust.

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><p>Explanation time. My katana, <em>Shikaeshi no sakebi<em>, was passed down to me from my father, when he…died. It's a cursed sword, but it always had been. My father was fond of telling me the legend that went something like this:

There was once a famous blacksmith by the name of Kaito. Out of the 63 swords he produced, 8 ranked among the 21 Excellent-grade swords. _Sakebi_'s story began with a rather infamous pirate, who demanded a sword. He promised payment when the swordmaster warned his weapons didn't come cheap, but as always in these stories, the pirate didn't intend to pay. But Kaito knew that, and (because he was also a spellcaster) he wove an enchantment into the blade that would make it open to receiving his soul into the blued metal, so he'd be able to animate it to get his revenge.

Of course, the pirate refused to pay. Of course, Kaito put up a fight. But with his primitive blacksmith tools, it was hardly a fight. And of course, Kaito's body died. But his soul took control of the sword, and _Sakebi_ cut the pirate's heart. Satisfied, Kaito moved on and his soul dissipated into the next world. But his moments of revenge and anger and the pirate's bloodthirst remained.

Every person who picked it up would be able to feel the remnants, and if the feelings were strong enough then it'd control you. _Sakebi_ was cursed, and only the strong-willed could wield it. My father conquered the sword, which was more than could be said for me. _Sakebi_ and I sort of had an agreement—we'd work together until we could avenge my father's death. Then…well, then I'd either be dead, or hopefully _Sakebi_ would be in a better mood. It really had loved my dad. Which was great, because it didn't hate me as much.

Another thing: I had been born with two silver eyes, but in recognition to our agreement, _Sakebi_ turned my right eye blood-red, to remind me of my mission. Being an enchanted sword of sorts, it was able to do so. I covered my right eye with my hair most of the time, because it drove people away, but when I was serious I often blew my bangs out of my eyes.

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><p>The bounty hunters didn't put up much of a fight, even when we split up. And to be honest, I don't think that either of us were really trying. I know I wasn't, and from the almost impish grin on Zoro's face, he wasn't either. I demolished my side, and he took care of his, before the Baroque Work's members jumped in. I leapt aside and let Zoro duke it out—he looked like he needed to get rid of some stress—while I quietly mourned my speedily disappearing freedom. I tried to figure out a situation where I could salvage my plan, but I couldn't find one that wouldn't have the Straw-Hats coming after my blood. Ouch. I started flipping my earring with a finger, wondering if I'd be missed if I went back to the <em>Merry Go<em> (the Straw-Hat's ship's name, which I found out on our way here) and went to sleep. I was still tired from the entire marathon and I decided that whatever it was, they could fill me in later.

Walking back to the deck, I found my pack in the kitchen where I had put it and pulled out my medicine. I poured enough for about an hour or so's sleep, but my hand slipped a little and a touch more medicine slipped in. Figuring that it wouldn't make much of a difference, I poured water in it anyway and slipped it. When that was finished, I washed the cup and climbed back up to the crow's nest. My boots were still there (yes, I had walked around the town barefoot) and so was my book. I considered trying to read some more, but the medicine was pretty fast-acting. Already on the brink of falling asleep, I leaned against the mast and pulled my legs towards me, before the narcotics covered me in sleep.

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><p>After seeing the old guy in rollers get blown up, we decided to set sail with all possible speed. Nami stayed behind for a bit to comfort Ms. Wednesday and Luffy ran off to find Sanji and Usopp while I went to pull up the anchor. The big duck was there, and I pulled up the anchor without much difficulty. Something was bothering me, though, like I had forgotten something.<br>But that part was quickly squashed in favor of attending to the present, as Nami and Vivi came (and found the duck), and Luffy dragged in Usopp and the love-cook. We sailed out of the bay pretty easily. That is, until the strange woman came.

"Oh, my. You guys are pretty lucky," she said. I looked up, hand on my katana hilt, while the persistent voice that had spoken up was still saying that I'd forgotten something. I squashed it again, while she continued speaking.

"HEY, MY HAT! NOW YOU'RE ASKING FOR A FIGHT!" Luffy raged, while Usopp agreed with him…from behind the mast.

"What are you going to do?" I asked him, feeling a sweatdrop slide down the back of my head. The lady said something about an easier route, and Luffy refused to take it. Of course. Unfortunately, that was my captain.

Eventually, she left, and Ms. Wednesday (who's actual name turned out to be Vivi) collapsed, saying that she didn't know what side the woman was on.

"It's okay. We're used to scheming women around here," I said, looking pointedly at Nami, who wasn't looking. Instead, she asked something else.

"Hey…where's Silk?" Immediately, the voice in my head turned into an alarm. Silk had joined me in beating the crap out of all the bounty hunters, but after that she disappered…where had she gone? Her boat was still with us, so she couldn't have just gone on her own…right?

We searched for her, and Luffy looked a little relieved when Nami found Silk's bag in the kitchen. Knowing Luffy, he already thought of her as namaka, which meant that no matter what she did or what she said, he'd keep running after her. He was a persistant idiot like that.

I tried to think of a place where she would have gone, but I couldn't think of any. I decided to go up to the crow's nest, since it was my turn at watch. I had one foot in when I happened to look up and there she was, curled up and leaning against the mast. Her shoes and a book were laid neatly next to her, and her head rested on her arms.

"Hey, guys!" I called down to the others. "I found her." They relaxed and started off to whatever they were doing.

I sat next to her, wondering what she was doing up here. Light breaths made her shoulders move up and down rhythmically, so she was obviously sleeping. Carefully, I shook her shoulder. She didn't move. I shook it harder. This time, she stirred.

"Wha-?" she muttered, uncurling a little.

"Oi, what are you doing up here?" I asked. She took a few seconds to actually register that I had said something.

"Zoro?" she said, squinting at me, her words badly slurred. I felt a little bad for waking her up—she looked completely out of it. "Whadja say?"

"I said, what are you doing up here?"

"Came up cuz I was tired. Why?" she yawned, her eyes half-lidded. I stared at her for a second. She seemed so…vulnerable, like a little kid. It was weird. Shrugging the feeling off, I answered her question.

"Because we were looking for you, obviously," I said, letting a note of irritation creep in. "Why didn't you answer?" She shrugged.

"Didn't…didn't hear nuthin. Took too much medicine," she answered slowly. I raised an eyebrow. Who took medicine to go to sleep?

"Well…next time, let us know, alright?" I said a little testily.

"F…fine," she yawned again. "Prolly won't be a next time…"

"Why's that?" I asked, curious. Her dull grey eye swivled in my direction, then turned back out to the horizon, unseeing.

"Cuz…can't stay long. Can't ever stay too long. Don' wanna. And…and…_they_ might find out," she finished, curling back up. In a few seconds, she was fast asleep again. I stared at her. In the tired, half-awake state she had been in, it was almost as if…she was open. I leaned back against the mast, looking out at the ocean and not seeing any of it. I was too focused on what Silk had just said. They might find out…what was that all about?

"Just what are you hiding from us?" I asked quietly, but she only answered with more steady breaths.

Pretty soon, I joined in.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: And we end on a highly fluffy note. Thank you. <strong>

**Yes, I know that I skipped a whole bunch of action and dialogue, but for the fight scene, Silk can't exactly hear Zoro's awesomely funny comments ("Careful there. The floor has been cut right though." *walks away*). For the rest, I'm tired and I want to get this chapter done with because the Little Garden arc is, I find, more interesting. So, sorry for Zoro's slight OOC-ness with not paying attention at crap and whatnot. Oh, and there's an unguarded moment with Silk! Yes! Foreshadowing rules!**

**...Crap, did I just spoiler something? Oh, well. It's sort of blatantly obvious anyway.**

**Another thing: so, I read through your reviews and no, you guys want me to stick to the plot as well as I can. So, the next stop is Little Garden! See ya all there!**

**This is Will, signing out.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Hi! Thanks so much for the warm reviews about the last chapter! In this one…well, not much goes on, other than the destruction of the fluff from the previous chapter…^^; Waaay over 2k words this time!**

**Ah, right. I forgot to mention one thing in the last chapter and as soon as I finish posting this one I'll fix it. For those of you who don't want to search the entire page for it, here it is: Silk's red eye comes from her pact with _Sakebi_. Being somewhat of an enchanted sword, _Sakebi_ turned her right eye blood red to remind her of her mission and their pact. She was born with same colored eyes.**

**Reviews!**

**nightange1: Thanks! I laughed while I was writing it, too—but it's true! Every word! Thank you for your compliment, and I'm happy you don't think Zoro's OOC. I'm trying really hard not to break the bounds of the character's personalities, so thank you for your constructive compliments (err…cousin of constructive critisim?)!**

**Elle-Procrastinator: I definitely wasn't. After all, it helped me with writing these chapters! Thanks!**

**Zororenjilover: I'm happy that you like this story! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and the ones afterwards! Thanks for your review!**

**Shoulda Been Grace: Thanks! There's another flashback here, so I hope you're pleased!**

**violentyetawesome: I'm happy you liked the switch in POVs—I was afraid that I'd mess up there. Thanks!**

**TheNewVampire: Thanks!**

**Warnings: Absolute destruction of fluff at 12 o'clock, Captain!**

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><p>Chapter 13<p>

When I woke up, the sun had risen and was cheerfully shining overhead. I stretched, hearing all the bones in my spine pop back into place satisfyingly, and getting that odd, rather ticklish feeling that I'd forgotten something…

"You're up," a deep voice said to my right. I jumped, looking over to see Zoro leaning against the mast, eyes closed and legs outstretched in front of him.

"When did you get up here?" I asked, a confused note creeping into my voice. The last thing I had remembered was falling asleep. This time, his eyes snapped open and for a moment, distractedly, I found that they weren't actually rust-red, but more of a polished mahogany or a red-wine.

"You mean you don't—what?" he sputtered, staring at me with confusion and frustration, while I stared back with an equal confusion. What was he talking about? Eventually, he huffed and stared out at the ocean. "Nevermind. When we got back on the ship, you were absolutely out of it. I tried to wake you up, but you just fell back asleep. Besides, it was my turn to watch." I stared at him. What was he…?

"You woke me up?" I repeated stupidly. A small vein started popping on his head.

"Yes! I did, but obviously you just fell back asleep! Geez, woman!" Now a vein popped on my forehead.

"Well, sorry for not remembering! And besides, that's just creepy, watching me when I'm asleep! And for the love of the four Emperors, I have a name, misogynistic, dumbass moss-head!" He turned around to face me, face tight with anger.

"We couldn't find you! Besides, I didn't watch you! And don't call me that!"

"What, moss-head? Too bad, that's reality! I swear, I don't know how you still have enough brain cells to move around, let alone fight!"

"Don't insult me, woman! Who was the one who had a siesta while the rest of us are on the run?"

"If you want to complain about untimely breaks, look in a mirror, moss-head! Who's the one who fell asleep while we were trying to stay alive in the first stretch of the Grand Line?"

As we argued, the rest of the crew either woke up or decided to walk onto deck.

"Heeeeeyy!" A cheerful, sunny shout caught both of our attentions.

"Wha-a-a-at?" Zoro and I said in unison, turning our heads to glare at the person who dared to interrupt the both of us. And of course, him being Luffy, he only smiled wider.

"Do you guys think it'll snow again?" I stared at him, uncomprehending. I let my tensed body loosen and leaned on the low walls of the crow's nest.

"What?" I repeated.

"Why would it snow, baka?" Zoro asked, just as confused.

"It snowed yesterday!" Luffy chirped, as if it was the answer to the universe. We blinked, before Zoro started nodding slowly.

"Yeah…well, this _is_ the Grand Line…" I smacked him upside the head. "Ow! What was that for, witch?" I rolled my eyes.

"Look, idiots. Both of you. I know that we're not going to have snow on the next island because the weather is slowly stabilizing, and it's getting warmer, not colder. Geez, do you guys not know the basics of temperature?" They both gave me blank looks. "Arrgh! I give up!" Throwing up my hands, I jumped from the crow's nest and landed on the deck, knees bent and one hand to stabilize me. "Idiots…"

"Don't worry, Silk-twan~! Your knight is here~!" Sanji said, leaping towards me, before bending down and producing a serving tray with a drink on it. "Here is your drink." I rolled my eyes again and took it.

"Who let you call me Silk-tan?" I asked sarcastically, drinking the chocolaty malt. Yum. How did he know that I loved chocolate? Oh well. It was good, anyhow.

"Anyway, now we have to be on our guard," Ms. Wednesday started. Wait, what? I looked curiously at Nami, who motioned that she'd fill me in later. I turned back to the blue-haired girl. "Baroque Works members could be anywhere…"

"Who wants some special drinks?" Sanji called, climbing up the mast to where the rest of the guys were…including an oversized duck. Usopp and Luffy raised their hands like normal people, the duck raised his wing, and Zoro…raised his leg. Whatever. I turned back to see Ms. Wednesday popping a vein. She turned to Nami, who was drinking one of the drinks and holding one out to the other girl.

"Nami, don't you think that they're a little too relaxed?" she cried, pointed an accusing finger at the guys, who were marveling over the fact that the duck knew how to drink. Cool.

"It's fine," Nami grinned. "There's no point in staying tense all the time. Those guys can kick just about anyone's ass if they needed to. Besides, doesn't it make you want to relax?" Ms. Wednesday gave in with a sort of shy-ish smile on her face.

"So, Nami," I spoke around my really delicious chocolate malt. "Why's Ms. Wednesday here?" Nami quickly ran me through it, going through her deal with Ingram (the mayor/Mr. 8), Ms. Wednesday's real name (Princess NefertariVivi), the identity of Mr. Zero (Crocodile), Ingram's death and their encounter with Mrs. All-Sunday, another member of Baroque Works. I thought for a minute.

"Arabasta? I think I was there a couple years ago…yeah. Nice place, if it didn't happen to be a desert." I shrugged. "So, we're going to Little Garden now?" Nami nodded.

"That's right, I wanted to ask you something, Silk." But whatever Nami wanted to say was interrupted by Ms. We—Vivi.

"Wait, did you just say 'Silk'?" she asked the orangette with wide eyes. Nami nodded, and Vivi sort of shrieked and jumped away from me, looking at me with wide eyes. Confused, I continued to drink my malt. "Y-You're a monster!" she cried. I blinked, and she continued. "You're 'Black Silk' Cain, aren't you?" I grinned at her, Luffy-style.

"The one and only!" I said cheerfully, pretty sure I was messing with her head. She whimpered, then turned to Nami.

"Are you crazy? She'll kill us all in our sleep!" the princess wailed as I finished off my malt and licked the straw clean. "Haven't you heard the _stories_? You're crazy!" she finished. Nami shrugged her shoulders.

"That's pretty much what Usopp told Luffy, but Luffy won't budge. He wants her on our crew, and here she is." I held up a finger to argue that.

"I said I'd travel with you guys for a couple islands. Please don't forget that I have my own agenda…although I might stick around to see Arabasta. I have something to settle with _Sir_ Crocodile," I growled, remembering…

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><p><em>Silk, aged 15 and three-quarters, bounty 250,000,000 beli, docked her boat with an expert speed and took off, only pausing to swing her small backpack onto a slim shoulder. She walked into the town, only pausing at an apothecary to restock her sleeping herbs. Luckily for her, it did, but in a rather dwindling supply.<em>

_She wandered into the busier part of town, taking mental note of a few shops to buy, sell and trade her wares. By this time, she'd come to terms that there was only so much treasure in the world, and so she acted as a sort of black market merchant. However, unlike most merchants from that side of the law her stuff was usually legit and she didn't jack the prices up too much._

_A shadow fell across the path next to her, and a deep, chilling voice spoke up behind her._

"_So, you're the girl with the quarter-of-a-billion beli bounty, huh? Though you'd be bigger." Silk resolutely kept her eyes facing forward, even as she heard boots crunching the sand underneath right next to her. She knew that voice, and she knew that man. Steeling herself, she clenched her fists to stop them from shaking. If the rumors were true, she was walking with a fallen dreamer, the most dangerous type of person…_

"_Most say that," she said coolly, and the voice chuckled._

"_Interesting…" She scoffed._

"_You might say so. After all, you only used to have a bounty of 81 billion beli, Shichibukai Crocodile." A chuckle._

"_How did you know? You haven't even looked up to see my face yet."_

"_I don't need to. You stink of sand."_

"_Again, interesting. Tell me, what do you do for a living, Black Silk?"_

"_Call me Silk. And I travel, sometimes peddle wares I get."_

"_I seem to recall you brought in quite a few bounties, last year and this." A shrug from the willowy girl._

"_They irritated me. They just happened to have some money for their…capture. And who would I be to turn down thousands of beli?" Another chuckle from the deep-voiced man._

"_Tell me, Silk." His voice dropped down to a conspiratorial whisper. "Would you like to be part of a utopia? I am the head of an organization…we will change the world for the better. You'll have a high position…" Gathering her resolve, Silk looked directly into his pebble-smooth eyes defiantly._

"_Forget it, Crocodile. 'Utopia', when directly translated from the Ancient Language, means 'not a place'. Non-existent. But please do satisfy my curiosity when I ask you exactly why did you specifically scout me out for your harebrained idea?" Crocodile took no notice of her casual insults._

"_Because of your bounty. That would be why. But since you've been so stubborn as to refuse my offer…I'll simply have to accept it, won't I?" He made a gesture with his hands, and suddenly, right as I drew my sword two metal-cold hands were holding my neck, only biting into the flesh just enough for the slight register of pain and a small, warm trickle of blood. Those hands were made with blades…Crocodile smiled cruelly. "Unfortunately, I'm not that kind of person…"_

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><p>"…ilk? Silk? SILK?" I crashed back into reality.<p>

"WHAT?" I shouted just as loudly back. Nami rolled her eyes.

"Geez, you zoned out for a minute there. Anyway, before Vivi interrupted—" here she shot a glare at the younger girl, "—I wanted to ask you what you know about Little Garden." I blinked. "You do know about it, right?" I shook my head, and Nami popped a few veins.

"THEN WHAT'S THE POINT OF HAVING YOU ON THIS SHIP?" she shouted, throwing a punch. I bent almost 90 degrees backwards to avoid the deadly punch.

"I've never been to Whiskey Peak, or Little Garden, or…what's that other island called? Drum Island? I dunno. But Arabasta, Jaya, Water 7, Sabody Archipelago and Fishman Island I've been to, as well as others that aren't on this route." She sighed and pulled back her arm, while I leaned upright again.

"Anyway Vivi," Nami said, turning to the still scared girl, "we're…cooperating with Silk. Besides, we need as many good fighters on our side as we can get if we're going up against an organization." Vivi nodded cautiously. Of course, Sanji had to ruin the moment.

"Vivi-chwaaaan~! Nami-swaaaan~! Silk-twaaaan~! How do you like the drinks?" I just nodded and walked into the kitchen, while Sanji did some sort of wavy dance…it was just weird, okay? Looking in my bag, I sighed at the tiny amount of herb powder I had left. There was just a week's left of sleep left…

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><p>"Oh, how cute!" My attention was redirected from my bag and I walked out of the kitchen to see a pink dolphin. I blinked, then the crew freaked out. I didn't blame them, of course.<p>

The thing was _freakin' huge_.

"LET'S RUUUUN~!" Luffy shouted, with all of us running to the sails and the rudder to change direction. The dolphin crashed right next to us.

"What was that?" Nami cried. I thought for a moment.

"I believe that species of porpoise is called Coral Giants, due to their coloring in size. They're a more primitive version of Sea Beasts and Sea Kings, since they are purely marine animals without any land animal parts. Traditionally, they traverse mostly the warmer parts of these waters, but one does come across the occasional pack in the colder regions. A close relative would be Island Whales, like Laboon," I recited from one of the books I had read. Sanji got hearts in his eyes.

"Waaah~! Silk-twan is so intelligent~!" I delicately scooted a few feet away from him. It was creepy. Again.

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><p>The weather got warmer and warmer as we entered the island's weathercast, as I nicknamed the weather patterns of each Grand Line island. Finally, we saw the green dot on the horizon get closer until we were almost at Little Garden.<p>

"What's so little about it?" Nami asked, fear creeping into her voice. I blinked. Was that a pterodactyl?

There was a river through the island again, and again we set anchor there. Luffy and Vivi wanted to go explore, dragging Carue along with them. Zoro and Sanji, of course, got into a hunting competition, and me? I got stuck with acting as a babysitter for Nami and Usopp, the former of which just realized that this was somewhat of a prehistoric island. Cool.

"Relax, you two," I called over my shoulder as I sat on the railing and tried to formulate some sort of plan to escape. I could easily overpower Nami and Usopp and make them… 'sleep' for a little while, but there was still the small problem of them finding out. Since the law didn't exactly apply, I wasn't sure what the price for 'assault with battery' would be. Ouch.

Not to mention the fact that in some bizarre facsimile of 'tag', Luffy had managed to shatter my Arabastan Eternal Post. Meaning, I only had Sabody, Omatsuri, and Long Ring Long islands left. I had been to Sabody and Long Ring Long, and Sabody was too far and Long Ring Long didn't have anything on it.

"Got any booze?" A booming voice came from the forest, and Nami and Usopp screamed. I looked over my shoulder and saw a huge giant with a red-orange beard leaning down. I looked back at the sea. Just another day…

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><p>I cut off a small piece of the T-Rex meat that the giant—excuse me, Brogy—had killed and cooked with one of my daggers and popped it in my mouth.<p>

"It's good," I noted to my frightened compatriots, who stared at me in disbelief as I cut off another piece and ate it, too.

"How can you eat?" Usopp moaned, but Brogy laughed.

"This little girl's got taste!" he laughed. The cowardly pair shivered as his voice echoed around the forest.

In the span of half an hour, we had been somewhat abducted from our ship, given a giant a few barrels of sake, and were now being treated to said giant with dinosaur meat.

The food was pretty good, I had to say.

A volcano erupted nearby, and Brogy got up.

"Where are you going?" Usopp asked, his curiosity getting the better of his fear…for once.

"That volcano is a signal to start fighting. There is another giant here, Drogy. He is my best friend and worst enemy…we have been fighting for almost a hundred years!" My own curiosity piqued, I asked the next question.

"What were you fighting about?" Brogy frowned in contemplation, then burst out into deep, chest-heaving laughs.

"We forgot!" he said cheerfully, picking up his shield and axe. I blinked, realizing the connotations.

You see, I'd been to Elbaf once before, and the conversation reminded me of their customs. How pride was put before everything else. If I hadn't gone there, I guessed I would have also reacted (like Nami was) with the thought that they were pointlessly fighting. But that was immaterial to them, I understood. Even with long lives, the giants understood death and wanted to leave a legacy behind, so no matter what, they made sure to keep their pride.

"May the god of Elbaf favor you," I grinned, using the traditional words. Brogy gave another chest-rumbling laugh.

"And you! Have you been to Elbaf?" I nodded, and his grin stretched even farther.

"Wonderful! I shall have to tell Drogy this!" With that, he turned and walked into the forest. From the clearing we were in, we could see the fight clearly.

"Why'd you encourage him?" Nami cried. I grinned.

"Because to them, their pride is their treasure. To give it up…that would be worse than death, in their eyes."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: And another chapter ends! Yes, Silk has been to Elbaf…I don't think that it is in the New World, but then again…maybe it's in the South Blue or something. For the sake of my headcanon, it is, savvy?<strong>

**I'm sorry if you didn't like the destruction of the fluff…but for some reason, it struck me as fitting to their characters and served as friction…for later sparks. In other words, it just came out and I sat back and said I was too freaking lazy to change it. Sue me.**

**Thanks for reading~!**

**This is Will, signing out.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Hi! I hope you guys liked the last chapter. More happens in this chapter, thankfully. I think that Little Garden will take up maybe one more chapter before I move on…guys, will you please let me know if you like how many chapters per arc I'm spending, or would you like to see more or less? Thanks!**

**Reviews:**

**Andrew52525: Thanks! I'm glad you like this story!**

**nightange1: Thanks for your kind review. The flashback sort of snuck in and I agree with you that it was a great addition to the chapter. I'll try to add in at least one for every chapter. I'm trying not to reveal _too_ much of Silk's past, because there'll be a big climax sometime in the future…Thanks again!**

**Warnings: Angst, self-hurt, mentions of torture, plus one f-bomb.**

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><p>Chapter 14<p>

The fight was…exhilarating, even as a spectator. Each giant, as Usopp noted, was aiming directly at the vital points of the other. If each blow had been just a centimeter off…there would be a pair of corpses there…it was truly impressive, even more so because they had likely been fighting just as fiercely, if not more savagely, for 100 years.

It eventually ended with both giants falling to the ground after getting the other's shield in their face. Ouch.

"That's what I want to be!" Usopp said eagerly. Nami gave him a funny look.

"A giant?"

"No! I want to be a proud warrior of the seas!" Usopp started speaking somemore, but Silk suddenly felt something funny, like some itch under your skin or the ticklish feeling of an insect landing on you, but it just felt…wrong. Her thoughts flashed to Zoro and Sanji for some reason.

"Guys?" she said, interrupting Usopp's tirade. "I'm going to go check on the two competing meatheads. I'll be right back." She turned back as the two nodded and continued, walking into the forest. Keeping a careful eye on her surroundings and an ear open for Sanji's accented tenor, either swooning at the mental image of his 'beauties' thanking him or easily planning the meal he would cook with his meat, and for Zoro's smooth baritone, either grunting with the weight of his catch or wondering if the _Merry Go_ had drifted downstream a few miles.

A few miles inward, she saw a flash of mint-green that could only have been Zoro, and a further look confirmed it. He was leaning against a tree. Relieved, Silk walked over.

"Hey, Zoro! I guess you didn't catch anything, huh?" She paused, but he didn't answer. In fact, he didn't move a muscle. She stopped dead.

"Zoro? Hello?" Nothing.

"You know, I bet Sanji'll get more meat than you will, at this point." Not a sound.

"Um, Zoro? Anyone home?" Silence.

"Moss-head! Wake up, idiot!" Not even his chest moved up and down to indicate breathing. She walked a few steps further…and suddenly Zoro wasn't _there_, there was only living wax, and as it wrapped around her with amazing speed and dexterity, her last thoughts before unconsciousness was: _Damn. I got tricked…_And then _Oh, god, the others. I need to tell them…_

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><p>"<em>Momma?"<em>

_Silk, aged 4 and a quarter, trotted next to her mother to keep up with Angelicus's long, elegant strides._

"_Yes, Akira?" _That's right. My name's Akira. Not Silk. Where did that come from?

"_Momma, when is Daddy coming back from his trip?" Angelicus looked back and smiled at her daughter, her long blonde hair framing a heart-shaped face, a face that her daughter had inherited. From Akira's vantage point, her mother looked like a celestial being come down to grace the mortals with her presence._ Yes, that's what Momma's always like. She's going to come in soon, and wake me up and tell me I was having a nightmare, and she'll tell me it's alright to cry a little…

"_He came back a few minutes ago," the 29-year-old woman said. "That's why we're going to the dock, angel." Silk giggled._ Right. And Daddy will be back with another one of those sparkly rocks for Momma and a present for me, and he'll swing me up just like he always does when he's back from a trip, and maybe Jesse will come in and play with me before I go to kendo school…

"_Okay!" she said, grabbing a hold of her mother's smooth hand with her long-fingered one, inherited from Akuma himself. "I can't wait! Let's hurry, Momma!" The little legs broke into a run, with Angelicus's light laughter her only response as her baby girl led her to the love of her life…_

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><p>Silk jolted awake with a start, pain shooting up from her arm. Her mind confused from her rude awakening, for a moment she thought she was still back in <em>there<em>.

_No…no…they told me they were done for today,_ she thought wildly, her breathing reaching hyper-speed. _They swore. I already told them, already did what they wanted. No more nomorenomorenomore…_

The smell of wax shoved her out of her dazed state and into reality. She was Silk. Akira was dead now. She wasn't at home, or _there_. She was in the jungle of Little Garden, on the Grand Line. She was traveling with the Straw-Hat Pirates, but she was going to escape soon so she could finally get to the New World. She'd talked to a giant named Brogy. And she had just been talking to a frozen Zoro (only now she knew that it wasn't Zoro anymore, it had been _something_, but it wasn't Zoro at all) when she was captured.

_The great Black Silk, tricked by a statue. Nice. This'll be one for the history books._ Looking over at her arm, she noticed a creamy spike digging deeply into it. Ow. She tried to pull it out, but was unable too. By glancing around, she managed to piece a somewhat panoramic view—she had been hung on a…cross? Weird.

"She's awake."

"Not now! It's not ready yet!"

"Shh! She can hear you, idiot!"

"Look who's talking! You're louder than I am!"

"Be quiet, both of you!"

Something jammed into the back of her neck, right where all her nerves were, and she faded into blackness again.

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><p>The Baroque Works agents sighed with relief when the female criminal's visible eye rolled up and her head lolled, coming to a rest with her chin on her clavicle bones.<p>

"I thought you said she was unconscious!" Mr. 5 hissed. Mr. 3 rolled his eyes.

"Forget it. She's unconscious now, and she'll be like that for a while. But for right now, let me finish my masterpiece." Lying on the ground was two of the Straw-Hats, one a man with green hair and a woman with orange hair. They were both wrapped securely in wax, ready to be incorporated into Mr. 3's killing technique. "You two, go and find the last group, which is probably Straw-Hat himself and the princess, not to mention her duck. They're over by the Green Giant's camp. Get the princess and bring her here."

The number 5 pair smirked in victory. The duck and the longnose had been defeated, Straw-Hat was half-buried underneath a huge dinosaur skull, and Mrs. Valentine easily held on to the struggling princess.

"Give up. Your friends have already been captured by us," Mr. 5 taunted. Luffy's eyes were shadowed, and his skin was smoking from the impacts of Mr. 5's explosive limbs.

"Caught Zoro? You would be cut to pieces…and Silk, she would've murdered you." Mr. 5's curiosity was piqued.

"You still have enough strength to babble? So tell me, why is that?" he sneered. Luffy's grimace turned into a fierce grin of pride. Vivi watched, wondering why, too. Silk had never really accepted that she was part of the Strawhats. So why would Luffy be like this?

"Because Silk'll do anything to be free—Zoro too, but especially Silk. She's tried to escape so many times…nothing can cage her for long." Luffy paused, his grin growing wider by the minute. Silk was already part of his namaka, even if she didn't know it—or want it. He could only know her so well if she was, and she was really cool and she could be nice if she wanted too. Sure, everyone that he met thought he was dumb and clueless, except for his crew…and Silk. But he wasn't—he really had been paying attention to what she did, just in case she did hurt his namaka, and he did know that she had gotten Usopp and him coats from the hold because she was a little concerned for them. Besides, she wouldn't have been so nice to Laboon if not. He added, staring defiantly at the dumb guy who exploded and hurt his namaka, "…not even the world can."

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><p>This time when I woke up, I checked my surroundings, stopping to gape at the sight to my right. There was Brogy, lying on the ground with wax swords stuck through his hands and feet and a puddle of wax underneath him. And then right next to him was this weird contraption that looked like half of a carved pumpkin on top of a huge candle that was planted smack into a huge multi-layered cake. On the lowest tier, planted like so many toothpicks, were Vivi, Zoro and Nami.<p>

"Silk! You got caught, too?" Nami called, looking at me incredulously, but I didn't listen to her. I was too busy staring at Zoro.

"This is the last time I'm going out of my way to search for you, meathead," I told him. "I decide that maybe you needed something with the ability to differentiate right and left, and look where I am! Stuck in some overdramatic prick's idea of an execution." A vein popped on his head.

"I didn't _ask_ you to look for me—I was fine! Besides, he used this witch's statue to get me!" Nami sighed.

"Children, children, can we stop arguing for a minute and FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET US OUT OF THIS MESS?" she began in a calm voice and ended up screaming.

"Welcome to my masterpiece!" a nasally voice spoke from the shadows. "I do hope you're all enjoying yourselves."

"Who are you?" Zoro asked, putting a hand on his swords.

"And how do I get to dismember you?" I put in, fingers twitching. He was going to get it. Badly.

"I am…Mr. 3, an artist!" A tall, thin man with a horrible taste in clothing strolled out from the shadows, smirking like a ringleader or a curator of a famous museum. But on top of his head was…a 3. No, really. His hair was a 3.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," I droned, already irritated with this guy. "Any doubts we had to your identity was quickly and immediately cleared up by your hair." A small tic appeared on one of his eyebrows.

"In your position, I'd keep quiet," he hissed. I smirked.

"In your position, I'd change my clothes. Do you have any idea how tacky they are?" Vivi giggled involuntarily and Nami nodded, grinning. "Guys, what do you think?"

"Hm…lose the hair and the vest and the pants, give him a normal hairstyle and a good coat…oh, yeah and lose the glasses and you might not have to claw your eyes out to look at him," Nami smirked.

"Bowtie, too," I added. "That was _soo_ last century."

"Shut up!" he hissed, flushing. "Aren't you concerned about your position? You're going to be executed by me! This is Mr. 3's Special Candle Set! As the top part of the Service rotates, it will spray a fine wax powder on all of you, and slowly but surely you'll become candles, with souls trapped inside! Such a beautiful scene!" I gave him a funny look.

"Such a case for the mad house. I mean, Special Candle Set? Can you get _any_ more uncreative? Tsk, tsk. And you call yourself an artist. Shame on you." Mr. 3's ears started whistling, as he made a visible effort to try and tamp down his anger.

"Enjoy your juvenile taunts now," he said, once he'd calmed down some. "Very soon, you'll be unable to breathe or to move, and we'll see how that smart mouth of yours works."

"Aww…you sound like my grandmother. She was always going on about my smart mouth…hey! I bet you're about the same age as she is!" The unhealthy tic in his eyebrow started speeding up.

"Ahem…as I was saying, there is no escape—my wax is harder than steel!" Mr. 3 threw back his head and laughed, a thin, reedy sound. "Ah, it's such a wonderful day for me! Not only do I capture the Straw-Hats and the two Giants, as per Mr. 0's orders, but I also bag Black Silk Cain, one of the highest bounties anywhere! I'll surely get a promotion after this!" He calmed down, smirking at me. I replied with giving him an icy look. "Dear Silk, such a waste. You could have been part of this organization, but even when we…*ahem* used all of our available _methods_ to try and convince you, you still refused. The boss wasn't very happy about that, you know."

"As it happens, I do, in fact, know _Mr. 0_'s displeasure. I do have it carved on my back, you know," I snarled. "You have such a way with words, 3. So diplomatic. I, however, can't profess to have that same gift. Instead of _methods_, how about we substitute it with _starvation_, _interrogation_ and_ fucking torture_. You guys just make this world so much more humane."

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><p>The other human prisoners looked at the furious girl with newfound interest.<p>

"Torture has been banned in Arabasta for 47 years…" Vivi started off timidly, but was cut off by Silk's now frigid voice.

"Obviously not everywhere," she said simply. "Still, I have to give the police a couple points. Can't count the times one of 'em came knocking on the door and asking whether or not they had someone in the basement, because they were pretty sure sake barrels didn't scream. Still, they're too naïve. When _Mrs. Doublefinger_ told them that they just had a few sick dogs in the cellar, the poor policemen swallowed it, hook line and sinker."

Vivi was faintly ashamed, and not a little frightened. If the police had been more rigid, if they had reported something, she thought, maybe Silk wouldn't have been like this. Vivi hadn't been with the crew long enough to get a really good impression of the girl, but she knew that Silk had her moments of kindness: throwing Zoro a jacket when he fell asleep and it started to snow, when she'd taken the sail ropes from Usopp so he could rest up, and when she'd actually split up her share of onigiri between Nami and Vivi, only taking one to stave off hunger. Vivi sensed that the girl had a far deeper history than any of them could possibly fathom on their own…

Silk's lip curled. "If, on the very slight chance that you do manage to put me six feet under," she told Mr. 3 scathingly, "I will come back and haunt you to insanity. Although, from the looks of it, you aren't very far away."

I turned my attention away from the Baroque Works members, although it was difficult to move my neck. Bits of wax fell off, and I guessed that I was slowly becoming a candle. Ew. If I hadn't, there was a very good chance that my past with them would be uncovered, and frankly, the looks the others had been sneaking my way (as if I couldn't see them) were already enough. I knew I had a bad past. And I knew that the past didn't make me who I was, except when it did. And I knew that my past didn't matter, until it ran up to catch me, to drag me down to the depths of hopelessness. I knew that already. No one needs to tell me again. It's the same old story, the same old lines. Like I'm in a bad play, and that's the punch line.

"Anyway, personal histories aside," Zoro said, and I very happily agreed because it was going to be too much, too much for me to handle, too much to lay bare my soul when so many times it was too much for other people, too much too much too much…"Brogy. Silk. We've got to escape from this at any cost, right? Well then…" He pulled out two of his swords carefully, dislodging any wax that had been created there. "I'll cut off my legs right here. That way, I can escape. After all, our will is all that matters, right?" Brogy grinned.

"If you have that kind of spirit, then I will do the same," he said, beginning to move his hands. I gave him a feral grin. From my bra, I pulled out a small tube with my teeth. Inside it was a small dart that would cause localized nerve shutdown which would wear off in a matter of minutes. I'd stolen it from a doctor. In my defense, the guy was a prick. As soon as the dart hit my hand, it fell, limp. Like I didn't have anything there.

"W-Whahahaha! What were you trying to do, aim for us? It obviously didn't work!" Mr. 3 howled, but I had seen his first look. My grin stretched wider.

"No. It hit perfectly. Because I don't really want to feel what happens next." I began dislocating every bone in my hand to pull it out.

I winced at the initial cracking noise, and all the ones after that as tendons shifted out of their usual places. Nami and Vivi looked vaguely disgusted, whereas Zoro was concentrating on his swords. Brogy had begun to pull his hands out of the wax swords. The anesthetic wore off with a suddenness that I had forgotten (or chose to forget) and I winced with the pain.

Thankfully, Luffy, Carue and Usopp rushed out of the trees at that point.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: And another chapter finished. Whew! Hopefully, Silk is now well away from Sue-status, so I develop her history and personality more freely. It's not my intention to write a perfect character…please don't forget, either, that she's not very trustful of anyone right now and we've only had one scene where she doesn't have her walls up. Anyway, like I've said Little Garden will likely be over in one more chapter. The reason why I've let this arc span three chapters is because Silk is more involved now than in Whiskey Peak.<strong>

**Hope you guys had fun reading this! Thanks again!**

**This is Will, signing out. Good night, all.**


	15. Chapter 14

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: Sorry for such a late update, and thanks to all who reviewed and stayed with me. The homework monster reared its ugly head and my story suffered a little bit. On the plus side, I'm pushing 4,000 words! w00t! This chapter basically finishes off the Little Garden Arc and starts the Drum Island one, with some fluffy bits inbetween. Enjoy, all!**

**Reviews:_ Edit (because I totally didn't forget teh reviews)_**

**violentyetawesome: Thanks! I don't want to reveal all of her secrets just quite yet, but it's great to know that my readers are bonding with Silk!**

**Shoulda Been Grace: It's alright! I hope you like this one just as well!**

**Zororenjilover: Yup! Do you remember some time during this arc, when he was all like "Don't call me that name" to Mrs. Goldenweek, since "people might think that I'm Mr. 3". Lolz! Nah, you're not. Don't worry, she's not like Zoro *coughnonerveendingscough*. Ouch!**

**SkittlesKat: Well, I hope this satisfies you! Thanks for the review!**

**Warnings: A swear word here and there.**

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><p>Chapter 15<p>

With a final few cracking sounds, my hand popped out of the cuff. My eyes watered at the last bit, when my knuckles suddenly snapped back into their vaguely correct places after being shifted around for so long. Nami and Vivi looked both faintly disgusted and heavily concerned, but their attention was soon turned to Zoro, who'd cut through about half of his legs. Blood was seeping everywhere. He was getting ready for another strike when Luffy, Carue and Usopp rushed in, flew over us and crashed into the woods. Then they rushed back out, looking both incredibly comical and absolutely furious. I was torn between laughing and sighing.

"Look who joined the party," I told Zoro, who looked up and grinned, sheathing his swords.

"Why did you stop trying?" Brogy asked. Zoro's grin widened.

"Because this guy is going to try for us."

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><p>I tried to move my hand, but it was immobilized by the pain. Hey, I'm not really built for that kind of thing. Ow.<p>

I reached for the small Sea Stone knife that hung on my belt anyway, but it was gone. In fact, my entire belt was gone. I reached into my boots for my other knives. Nothing. Hairpin with a hidden blade. Na-da.

"Looking for something?" Blondie purred, and held up all my weapons, secured together with my belt. "We know your reputation. It was the most obvious thing to do, with such a huge bounty in front of us." I growled, feeling the wax harden on me. I turned my head to the others, who also had a ton of wax on them.

"Got any sort of weapon that I could use?" I said, trying to flex my fingers without screaming and somewhat succeeding. Zoro's grin was directed at me, and he crossed his arms.

"It's alright, you know," he said. "Have a little faith in Luffy. He'll finish it." Mr. 3 laughed at this point, and some more wax came and roughly jerked my arm back to it's place. I bit my lip to stop a pained cry from escaping me as he purposefully jerked around all my sore tendons.

"That's right. Just stay right there and become a pretty little candle. What could you have done, anyway? You damaged your hand so badly." He donkeyed some more.

"I could have easily whooped your pretty little ass from here to the Red Line," I snapped. "It wouldn't have taken five seconds." Mr. 3 grinned some more and fiddled with his fingers. Ropes of wax started securing my legs, arms and torso, fixing me even more firmly than before. There was even one around my neck like some weird necklace.

"Now you can't make any more of those quick escapes of yours," he gloated. "Not even you can break through something harder than steel!" I tried to move even more desperately when I realized that all the extra wax was turning me into a candle even faster. "Now, now, we can't have you wearing yourself out so quickly," he purred, clenching his open hand. The wax ring around my neck tightened until I blacked out…

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><p>I watched at Silk's silver eye rolled up and her body went limp. The glasses-idiot just laughed some more and turned to Luffy. I pulled out my sword, confident in my captain but somewhat concerned for Silk. Wait, concerned? I shook it off as Nami asked me a question.<p>

"What in the world are you doing?"

"In case we do get turned into candles, I want to have a good pose," I explained as the two other females looked at me as if I was crazy. Oh well. They wouldn't have as great if a pose as I did. But really I wanted to make sure that when Luffy freed us, I could join the fight immediately without having to draw at least one sword.

…

And face it. Posing statues are badass.

I let myself look back at Silk. She was almost completely a candle, and her breaths seemed to become harsher as time went on.

"Oi, Luffy," I called, and he looked at me. "You may want to try speeding up and knocking this pole down. Silk may not be able to last the entire time." He nodded, sobering almost instantly. His gaze flickered to her still form, and he spun on the hilt of the sword on the red giant's hand, finally knocking down the pole and the "hammer" on his legs.

"Cool, it's gone!" Luffy said, talking about the thing on his legs. I rolled my eyes, before realizing along with the two other prisoners that nothing had changed.

"We're still alive," Vivi said.

"Nothing happened."

"Wait…" Nami said. "It's getting harder to breathe."

"That's right! As the candle gets closer and closer to you, you'll all become dolls much faster! You just sealed their fate, 'Straw-Hat'!" Mr. 3 crowed.

Luffy knocked the idiot out, but now I saw that Silk had become a complete candle doll.

"Luffy, hurry up!" I called to him, but…

"I don't feel like helping you." I blinked. What?

"Luffy, what are you doing? Destroy the pumpkin!" Nami called desperately. "We'll all be candle dolls!"

He didn't care. The girl with pigtails then explained to us exactly what was happening, which was that Luffy was being affected by her paint. With his innocent and straightforward mind, Luffy was completely susceptible to her ability.

"Luffy, don't move, please!" Vivi said. "Please don't!" And of course, he moved out. Smart princess.

Luffy got caught in her trap another time and Usopp bumped into him, which wiped off the sign. But by then, wax closed over my vision and into my lungs, making it much harder to breathe.

_Luffy, you damn idiot,_ I thought, _you better get us out of here soon._ And then unconsciousness raced up to devour me.

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><p>When I woke up, everything was on fire. Wax melted in puddles, and my sword hand fell down, aching slightly. Hearing that stupid guy that exploded, I unsheathed my swords, which had oil that combusted almost immediately, and sliced him up.<p>

"Fire swords aren't all that bad," I noted before running back in. Like I guessed, Silk was still unconscious, lying in a huge puddle of wax. I grabbed her and carried her, bridal-style, out of the bonfire and to the tree-line. The two girls, having defeated the woman named Mrs. Valentine, were panting. Nami held Silk's weapons, still wrapped in a neat bundle.

I put Silk down near a broken tree stump and sat down on it, waiting for Luffy. My ankles protested, and I looked down to see that they were losing a lot of blood. Thankfully, not as much as when Mihawk had cut me. Looking up at the red giant, I spoke up.

"So…being alive is the best, right?" I said, smirking as I pulled off my bandana. He agreed.

As we waited for Luffy, Silk started to wake up.

* * *

><p>I coughed, tasting a bitter powder in my mouth that could only be wax. I sat up from where I had been lying down…<p>

Wait, WHAT?

"You're up," A now-familiar male voice said, and I laughed, leaning against the stump, too tired to move much.

"Creep. You're still watching me while I'm asleep." He only laughed tiredly, and I quickly remembered what had happened.

"My stuff! Where is it?" I looked around for the blonde woman who had my weapons (and how dare she touch them…)

"It's right here," Nami said, holding the bundle by one finger. I wasn't sure if I liked that impish smile she had, though. "You can have it, on one cond—eh?" The bundle was gone, and I was sitting next to the stump again, even more tired than before but with my weapons. Nami harrumphed and was about to complain when thankfully, Luffy came back.

"You got the rest of them, Luffy?" Zoro asked, and Luffy nodded, but further conversation was stopped when Brogy decided that it was a good time to start mourning his fallen friend. We all complained quietly, but I was sure that I wasn't the only one who was surprised when Dory sat back up.

Sighing, I got up and stretched, but not before noticing that Zoro's ankles were bleeding profusely. I found my miniature first aid kit and unrolled some gauze. Sitting back down, I found a needle and thread, and looked up at Zoro, who was watching.

"Do you need anesthetic?" I asked him, threading the needle and tying the knot. He understood, and shook his head. Gingerly, I started stitching his ankle, but ropes of pain continually shot up my arm as my right hand protested very loudly at all the abuse it had put up with.

"Here," he said, grabbing my hand and wrapping it tightly with a piece of cloth. I bit my lip hard as the pain worsened, but once he tied the knot it lessened immediately.

"Thanks," I told him, my hand now infinitely more steady. I finished both ankles as quickly as possible and put away the needle.

"Thank you," was his reply as he got up, testing the stitches. Hearing someone coming from the forest, I looked over, hand at my katana in case it was another of those Baroque's Works agents. Luckily, it was only Sanji. I half-listened to his explanation of where he was, and when he held up an Eternal Post, I was mildly relieved—we wouldn't have to guess where to go anymore. But when Zoro and Sanji brought up the subject of a hunting contest, I remembered something and stood up.

"Luffy, can you come with me, please? When I was looking for the bonehead marimo over there, I killed an animal that attacked me. Would you mind helping me bring it back to the ship?" Luffy grinned.

"Sure! More meat!" he cheered. Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"Can't you just carry it back yourself?" he questioned.

"Look, I'm actually not that strong, baka," I said. "Haven't you noticed I go more for speed and accuracy than just bludgeoning my way through like some dumb marimos tend to?" Veins popped on his head.

"I'm not a marimo!" he shouted. I raised an eyebrow.

"You only take offence to that bit? Geez, you're easy to bait," I smirked, turning around to lead Luffy to my kill.

"Whatever," I heard him mutter discontentedly, and I grinned.

* * *

><p>"Wow! It's so big!" Luffy cheered, grabbing the tail of the Apatosaurus. I grinned as well, the captain's sunny happiness proving extremely infectious, dragging the head. It had attacked me, so I had cut off its head and continued looking for Zoro.<p>

As we approached the ship, Luffy dragging the body and me commandeering the head, Zoro and Sanji stopped arguing about whatever they found to argue and dropped their jaws.

"How did you kill something that big?" Nami shrieked. I shrugged.

"I cut off its head," I said, lifting up the mentioned part.

"I-I think she wins," Usopp whimpered. I looked over at Zoro and Sanji's kills, then grinned widely at them.

"I guess I do, huh?" I said, setting down the head and jumping onto the ship. Grumbling, Zoro got on as well, while Sanji quickly packed as much of the meat as he could fit into the Merry. As the ship sailed out of the island, Nami following the Eternal Post's needle, the two giants were standing by the shore. They talked about honor and how they were thankful that we had protected their honor, and how they would protect ours now. I was curious as to what they were alluding, but that was soon cleared up by a giant goldfish that rose out of the water. I laughed as we were swallowed and the Straw-Hats freaked, all except Luffy. This was _fun_.

"Silk!" Nami shrieked. "Are you sure we can trust those giants?" I laughed again.

"I'll give you the same answer Luffy just did: yes! They're almost obsessive of their honor—once protected, they will feel greatly indebted to us. Just relax and hang _oooonnnn!_" The last part was when the two giants blasted a hole through the goldfish. I grabbed the rail with one hand and held my hair back from my face with the other, my small hairtie snapping and flying away with the force of the blow.

_Merry_ landed, with _Midnight_ falling right behind, and as we sailed away, the two giants shouted goodbyes to us.

* * *

><p>After being nearly eaten by an oversized goldfish, it was pretty smooth sailing. Zoro trained and slept, Sanji cooked many dishes using the dinosaur meat, Carue, Luffy and Usopp played, and Nami and Vivi relaxed. I took the time to sort through my weapons.<p>

Since I had so many of them, I could start selling them off. After all, I almost never used the bow and arrows, or the throwing stars, and the scythe was almost new. The Sea Stone knife would stay with me, though. I debated, before setting aside the bow and the normal arrows, all of the regular throwing stars, and most of the normal pistols. Those could go, since I was absolutely hopeless at the bow and arrows (although I wasn't ready to part with the Sea Stone in the five special arrows) and the throwing stars were brand new. The few I kept on me were all made of Sea Stone, since it was harder than most metals and more durable. The only normal pistol worth keeping was the only one I used, so the rest could go. The scythe I would keep on the off chance I'd ever need it (and besides, it was a present), and the three water-pistols I would need for any Hammer that came along. I reloaded the one I carried on me and made sure the other two were in top condition.

The ones I was ready to sell went in a special bag that was made with a fabric only found in the South Blue. They were extraordinarily hard to cut, and therefore I could hold all my unused weapons safely in there. Believe me, it was hell haggling with the merchant.

"Eh? What's that, Silk?" Luffy said, plopping down next to me.

"These are all my weapons. If you haven't noticed already, I'm not exactly insanely strong or made of rubber, and I do happen to have nerve endings unlike some blockheaded swordsman I could name." A dark grunt from the mast alerted me that Zoro had heard. Oh well.

"Really? Can you use any lasers? Show me!" he said, sparkles in his eyes.  
>"Yes, I can use most of these. No, I don't know how to use lasers…and no, I won't show you." He pouted.<p>

"Why noooot?" he whined, sounding like a kid who'd just been denied candy. I sighed.

"Because most of these have Sea Stone in them…you know, the stuff on the end of Smoker's jutte." He nodded eagerly even before I mentioned Smoki. "If and when I hit you with them, you know that you'd be very affected by it. Besides, if Marines get here we'll need you in top condition." He pouted, and pointed to the three guns I had.

"Didn't you use those to shoot Alvida?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Yup," I said, opening the smaller suitcase. Hm…the regular grappling hooks could go. I'd claim that I used to mountain climb…yeah, they had enough wear for that. I threw them in the bag. Smoke grenades were _trés _useful, so were nets, blah blah blah. I threw out less stuff from here than in the bigger case, but my bag was still stuffed full. Finally, I looked again at my seawater grenade. I'd only made one, and was completely unsure as to its power. On one hand, it could spread seawater around enough to not only incapacitate one but an entire crowd of Hammers. On the other, the sea water inside would be spread out too quickly to even weaken one. Tossing it from hand to hand, I mused over it.

"Augh!" A frightened, completely unmanly and undignified shriek that came from Usopp nearly made me drop my invention. Thankfully, I managed to catch it before it fell and rolled over to the sea. If it had, I would have dived in to get it first, and then murdered Usopp later. "It's a grenade! I knew it! She was going to blow us sky-high!" he shrieked, while I blinked and looked at the said weapon. The thing barely had enough gunpowder to explode, let alone blow up the cute caravel. That was to ensure that the seawater didn't evaporate instantaneously.

I debated between reassuring them all and scaring the shit out of the curly-haired teenager.

Of course, good never put up much of a fight.

"Oh, this? You don't have to worry about that, Usopp-kun," I said, practically purring. "If I was going to kill you all, I wouldn't have used this." I lightly began tossing it up and catching it, well aware that he was visibly trembling. I slowly got up, my hand steadily catching and throwing the grenade, my feet slowly advancing to him as his shaking legs shuffled clumsily behind him. "Oh, no," I said, my voice dropping to a smooth hiss. "This is far too good for the likes of you. I wouldn't even consider using my katana for you." Usopp squeaked, too terrified to move. I turned my head to Luffy, who was grinning as if he knew that I was only doing this for fun. "What do you think, Luffy-kun? Should I start by using the throwing stars, or should I just shoot him?" Luffy laughed.

"Shishishishi! Aw, don't kill Usopp, Silk! He's okay, he's just scared of you," he said confidently, putting his hands behind his hat and leaning against the rail. I smirked and walked back to my weapons case. Putting it back, I decided that I'd let the sniper keep his pants dry. This time.

"Don't worry. That's a seawater grenade I made. There isn't enough in here to light up a toddler's birthday candles, let alone a whole caravel." Usopp looked slightly curious and less frightened out of his wits.

"Really? Then what's it for?" I rolled my eyes.

"Did I mention that it's a seawater grenade? There's some ocean water in here, so I can't put that much gunpowder—can't have it all evaporating before it has an effect, right? Besides, the only one here that would be affected, if it even works, would be Luffy over there. Not much else it could do, except potentially weaken or cripple Hammers. Oh, and scare the pants off of certain paranoid parties." I closed my smaller case and slid it into the larger weapon's case, which I also closed after pulling out the scythe. Who knows, I might need it at some point. I snapped all the pieces into place, twirling it experimentally. "Geez…am I rusty…I've forgotten half the moves I use for this thing." I grinned at Usopp's scared face.

"Y-y-y-y-y-you f-f-f-f-forgot?" he screeched.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll try not to let it slip out of my hands and murder anyone," I laughed, spinning it faster and faster, switching hands every so often. To be perfectly honest, it was a rather clumsy weapon and not very ideal for close combat, unless I discarded the long handle and used it as a kame. And even then, the blades (there were two, one long and one shorter) were counteractive to the weight…but it was freaking badass, and had a great scare factor. Besides, like I said before, it was a present. I felt obligated to use it every so often in…well, in the giver's honor.

"Wow! You know how to use that?" Luffy cried, sparkles taking the place of his eyes. I laughed.

"Sure. Just give me a few more minutes. Then maybe we could spar, hm?" He eagerly nodded, jumping up and down and stretching experimentally.

* * *

><p>I slammed against the railing after Luffy had given me an unexpectedly hard hit, laughing. He was pretty good. Unrefined, but pretty freaking good. I again flashed next to him and then lightly dodged the next foot that came streaking my way. He may be an unabashed idiot most times, but in combat he…he was an instinctive fighter with incredible luck. No skill, since most of his moves, although obviously powerful and practiced, were rather unrefined, sometimes expending extra energy that wasn't needed. But while he was definitely stronger than me in the physical sense and to some extent, luck and instinct, I had speed and experience on my side. His style may have been created by himself (and face it, how many rubber people ran around here?), but I had fought hundreds of freestylers, and many of them unintentionally used similar moves. So I knew how to counteract most of his moves, but others I had to improvise on the spot.<p>

I saw a "pistol" coming my way and sent a slice of wind to stop it, tightening my grip on the staff on the off chance that he'd continue with his move. He did, and I deflected the fist with the pole before going on the offensive. I didn't realize that we had an audience before I heard Zoro shouting something and Usopp shouting something back. Then I realized what it must look like—Luffy and I were in a fight.

As a foot came my way and I just dodged it, rolling to minimize the damage to myself, I decided that they could all screw themselves. I had a sparring partner who wasn't about to let me loose anytime soon.

* * *

><p>"Gomu-Gomu no…Bazooka!"<p>

"Jigoku no handan (Hell's Judgment)!"

The two finishers collided and for a minute we stood there, both putting out an equal force—Luffy with his two hands pushing at my scythe, which was lightly shaking with the force of the two blows and my feet digging into the wooden deck, both of us panting heavily. We stood there for a moment longer before I said, "Can we call it a tie?" Luffy laughed and put down his hands at the same time that I lowered my scythe.

"That was awesome!" he crowed, throwing up both of his hands. "You're a great fighter!" I grinned.  
>"Same to you," I told him. "Just make sure to not expend too much energy, m'kay?" He laughed again and raced into the kitchen, calling to Sanji to make him food. I just laughed and sat down at my weapons chest to disassemble my weapon, now a little more scuffed up.<p>

"What was that all about?" Zoro asked. I shrugged.  
>"Luffy and I decided we wanted to spar, why?" I said, bringing out my polisher to try and get some of those sandal prints off of the handle.<p>

"Because we thought…oh, forget it," he groused, stomping off to probably lift more weights. I grinned. He was just _too_ easy to make fun of.

I had just finished up with my scythe and put it away when I heard a soft thump and Vivi's shout.

"Everyone! Help! Nami just collapsed!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: Well that was a bad cliffhanger. Anyway, we see Silk starting to give up some of her lesser used weapons. This is symbolism, people! Try and figure out what it means, not that it's not very obvious. Also, some fluff between Silk and Zoro, and a little LuffySilk bonding. This pairing is strictly platonic, by the way. So, I have two questions for you all: 1) Should Silk come down with the same illness that Nami has or should she just try to help (not that she can do much anyway) and 2) What do you guys want to see in the next omake? Personally, I don't think that Silk should come down with it, but whatever you guys think. Also, I need omake ideas. Please.**

**Oh, and if you guys were wondering, Silk just loves to tick Zoro off. I mean, the guy just blows up in the most hilarious way ever. How could you not?**

**Anyway, thanks for reading this! Hope you liked it!**

**This is Will, signing off. Good day, y'all.**


	16. Chapter 15

**Bitterness**

**Author's Note: 27 days. 27 freaking days of not updating…god, I'm sorry you all. Thanks to all the lovelies who haven't taken me off their alert or faves, or screamed at me…oh, and you all have violentyetawesome to thank for this chapter. She really, really, really helped me…so go and give her love! She just updated one of her stories, wink wink…**

**One thing before I reply to all my reviewers: I just looked back at the last part of the previous chapter and I was like, OMG, Silk seems really overpowered. So, to clear that up (and it will be somewhat rationalized in this chapter), Silk as of this moment, is on the same level, if not higher, of strength as Luffy is. As we're all aware, I'm sure, Luffy increases his powers by leaps and bounds through the course of the manga. Silk learns a lot slower than Luffy—the only reason why she is a little stronger than him is because she has been on the run for literally 12 years. In case I didn't mention it before, Silk is 19. At least, I'm pretty sure she is…if I just contradicted myself, please drop me a line. ^^;**

**Reviews: **

**RedRose43: Yes! Yes she is a badass!**

**dark prime 0: You're really close to the mark! In fact, you're the closest! :D Thanks for the advice, I hope you like this new chapter!**

**Zororenjilover: Thanks! Yeah, she probably would've known…I hope you like this new chapter!**

**Alpenwolf: First of all…you reviewed so many times…_ Not that it isn't a good thing, so thanks! Okay: No, I said that Silk shot Alvida in her legs, not her back. So…no…no it wasn't. But looking back, it was easy to make that mistake! Eh heh heh…No, her katana isn't…so far. Yes, Luffy can be annoying. But we just have to take him as he is, don't we? I'll go in-depth with her sleep problems later on…the change in POV was due to being a jerk and not putting in my page breaks…and yes, she would've whooped his ass. :D**

**zorolover10: here it is. :3**

**thakidisbac: Yes! I am lucky for every single reader! And thanks for the omake suggestions! I hope you like this chapter!**

**Warning: Swear words, as always. A tiny fluff moment. I don't think there's anything else…**

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><p>Chapter 16<p>

Vivi mopped the damp towel on Nami's brightly flushed face, concern wrinkling her forehead. Nami had just attempted to shrug her illness off, managing to save them from a sea cyclone before she collapsed. Before that, I had managed to get a hairband from Vivi and now my hair was tied back again, out of my face. In the meantime, Vivi's country was being torn apart, and more from the royal army were switching to the rebel's side every day. Vivi, being the one with most to lose, made the decision to find a doctor for Nami as soon as possible. In lieu of not having our navigator, I convinced them to let me go on the _Midnight_ to see what the closest island was.

* * *

><p>I flipped on the lights to my navigation room with Luffy, Usopp and Zoro in tow. Vivi and Sanji had decided to stay in favor of helping Nami.<p>

"Wow! What is this place?" Luffy asked, looking around eagerly.

"My navigation room. Don't wander off—I have a bunch of fragile things in here that lesser people would commit mass murder to see." With that, I turned to booting up all my computers, dusting off the screens.

"Who needs this much stuff just for navigation?" Usopp asked, looking around at the room and obviously comparing it to what Nami used—her instincts, the maps she had and the Log Post. Maybe a book or two. In my nav room, there were completely packed floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on one wall, another had many instruments for direction-finding, another was taken up by an observation window with curtains to keep in the heat and the last had the computers. The room was crammed full of stuff, in an organized mess that somehow I managed to stay calm in.

"Me, and now you. Especially if you want to get through alive and with minimal damage to _Merry_ and _Midnight_, and without Nami. Y'know, most of this stuff is just to mimic what she has naturally. But I added a bunch of stuff back in Lougetown. The New World isn't as forgiving, you might say, as this side of the Grand Line is." Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"The New World?" he asked, and I nodded.  
>"Yeah. The second half of the Grand Line…it's far more dangerous than this side is. That's why some people call this side Paradise. Gives you an idea on what 'far more dangerous' means." I pulled up a few screens, checking through the newly modulated equipment for storms, Sea Kings and islands. I found one nearby and on the same course, which was unlabeled. Around it was a huge snowstorm, or so the machine said.<br>"I found one…it's a Winter Island from the looks of things, or it's at least an Autumn having a very heavy winter. We've also got a snowstorm coming in, so find some coats. Lemme see if I have an Eternal Post there…" I said, ducking down into my storage area and pulling out a small box of about fourteen Eternal Posts.  
>"Wow! So many of them! Where do they go to?" Luffy cried, squatting down to look at them.<p>

"Pretty much all over this side of the Grand Line, and one or two go beyond, I think. I dunno, that shopkeeper might've scammed me. Let's see…" I pulled out a bunch of Posts and tested them, but none of them matched the one I was trying to find. Damn.

"What's the matter?" Luffy asked, cocking his head like a puppy as I quietly cursed up a storm that would've made the Whitebeards blush with pride. They had taught me well—especially Marco, Thatch and Ace. Oh, god, when Thatch and Ace got started on one of their escapades…

"I can't find an Eternal Post to this island. I guess it's unlabeled for a reason…and my Log Post is still pointing to Little Garden. The only thing I can say is that we're reasonably lucky that the island's almost exactly aligned with Little Garden, so I could possibly get there. I can't make any guarantees that we'll get there with the shortest route, since my route calculator short-circuited with all the crazy weather in the first part…I knew I should've double-checked it with Grant in Lougetown…oh well." I got up, pushing the box back into its place. "I'll just keep a careful eye on the horizon, then…"

* * *

><p>"Do you think if we dumped a bucket of water on her, her fever might go down?" Luffy asked, before being viciously attacked by Sanji and Vivi, who had taken it upon themselves to care for Nami.<p>

"Don't bang up the room too much, please," I said, adjusting my glasses as I flipped a few pages. Next to me lay some other books and my medical pack. "Who knows what kind of effect excessive movement will have on Nami." I sighed, throwing it in the ever-growing pile of useless books. "Nope. All of them diagnose them as a normal fever…Well, at least these won't hurt her. Hopefully." I pulled out a couple of herbs from my med pack, double checking their smell to make sure they were the right ones and that they were still relatively potent. "Sanji, if you can make an herbal soup from these, it might be able to help her. Other than that, I really can't help her…all these books are practically useless. None of 'em can explain a 40 degree fever springing up from no where." After Sanji had rushed off to the kitchen, I pulled off my glasses and tucked them in their case, sticking it in the bag where I then dumped in all my books. My eyes would start hurting after an hour of looking at the small print, so I found a pair of glasses and was relieved to find that they lessened the strain on my eyes immensely.

"T-Thanks anyway, Silk-chan," Vivi said nervously. I nodded, stretching as I stood up.

"You're welcome, Vivi. The sooner we can get Nami to a doctor, the better." I walked out of the room, carrying a stack of books and my medical bag. They were all really heavy, so I rested them on the railing, near where Zoro was sitting, on the lookout.

"How is she?" he asked, lifting what looked like a 200 pound weight with one hand.

"Not good…I couldn't find anything in these," I said, patting the stack of evilly heavy tomes. He gave them a passing glance and simply grunted, looking back at the horizon. I pulled up the stack and was about to make my way back to the ship when they all disappeared. The books, I mean. Zoro walked by me with a sigh, his weight balanced on top of the books, and my bag slung on one shoulder.

"Oi, stop staring," he said irritatedly. "These go in your navigation room, right? Go and check our direction while I put this away. Wimp."

Okay. That was too much weirdness for me. First, he's nice, then he orders me around, and finally he insults me. I chose to ignore everything but the last bit for the simple possibility of annoying him again.

"I will be the first to admit that I'm not the strongest person on the planet…but hey, at least _I'm_ okay with my body image."

"…what."

"Oh, this is rich, coming from a guy who spends _sooo_ much time alone, sculpting his body…"

"I DO NOT DO THAT!" He whipped around to yell at me better, and yet neither the books nor the weight moved an inch.

"Cool! Can you teach me that?"

"What would I want to teach you?" he asked warily. I gave him an absolutely angelic smile.

"You know, how to make that expression! It's amazing, how you can make your eyes roll up and your teeth turn pointy, and how so many veins pop on your head all at the same time!" He growled, grinding his teeth and obviously thinking of a really biting comeback.

Strangely enough, none of our clashes had ever turned physical. Either he was holding back with me (and I would _never_ forgive him if he was doing that) or we somehow craved mental clashes and the other happened to be there.

I dunno, Zoro gets into enough physical fights with Sanji. I guess it was the latter, then.

"O-oi, oi, you two…we need to—"

"_**Don't you dare interrupt…**_oh, it's just you, Usopp," we said in unison to the olive-skinned teen, whose legs were shaking so hard it was a wonder that he stayed upright.

"What is it?" I asked, sitting on the railing.

"Erm, we need someone at the crow's nest, and Sanji told me to get Zoro to do it…" I rolled my eyes. The guy still creeped me out, a little bit.

"I'm putting these books away. Make Silk do it." I rolled my eyes at his childishness but obligingly started for the rope ladder anyway, remembering to check my Log Post. At the top, I found my book still there, so I propped it up to remind me to bring it down again. Right now, I was bunking in the girls' room, so…yeah, sharing with a sick Nami. At least we were somewhat hopeful it wasn't contagious.

I settled into a comfortable position, preparing for a couple hours up here.

Island-scouting on the Grand Line. Funnest thing ever.

* * *

><p>I was half-way through a mental game of chess (yes, yes, I am insane, you don't have to tell me that) when the temperature dropped like a ton of bricks. I looked around and found a blanket from when I fell asleep. Wrapping it around me, I squinted out but still couldn't see a thing on the horizon. Granted, the snow falling made it pretty hard to see anything, but still.<p>

"Having fun?" I jumped at the voice behind me, and then narrowed my eyes when I saw it was only Zoro. With a big, fat smirk on his face. Friggin' perv.

"Why is it that you seem to love watching me?" I asked irritatedly. He snorted.

"Because you rarely pay much attention to your surroundings…especially when you're humming." He raised an eyebrow, inviting me to speak. And yes, I had been humming a surprisingly popular tune that I heard in Lougetown.

"In my defense, I was watching my surroundings. I just didn't expect a surprisingly childish swordsman-mossball to yell "BOO" behind my back," I shot back, resting my chin on my palm. He rolled his eyes and sat down. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"It's been my watch for a while now," he explained somewhat patiently. I huffed.

"Sor-_ry_. If I had known you were going to be so eager to freeze your butt off while watching absolutely ziltch, then I would've jumped off and ran back into the heated part of the ship," I said sarcastically.

"I fell asleep," he said simply, shrugging. I rolled my eyes and dumped the now-warmed blanket on him.

"Here. I'm going to go downstairs and see if I can warm back up." I took my book and swung onto the rope ladder, carefully climbing down while trying not to freeze.

* * *

><p>I was dozing off, my glasses slipping down the bridge of my nose and my thick book on the known history of the Red Line was slowly sliding off my lap, when I became aware that I hadn't taken my medication yet. I closed the book and pulled off the glasses, silently cursing how dependant I was on it, then comforting myself with the fact that when I left, I could cut down on it…I froze.<p>

It had been so long since I had given thought to the idea of running off. A little before Little Garden, if memory served me correctly…A cold shiver took hold of me. I knew _why_ I couldn't stay long. Why I could never, ever stay long. So why had I forgotten to plan my escape? I should have been planning all that time, all the time that I…

I shoved it off, making my way to the door. It was well into the night, and Zoro, Carue, Vivi, Usopp and Luffy had found their way to Nami's room. They were sleeping in haphazard piles, and snoring up a storm. With a small smile, I poured some powder into a glass of water and brought it to the bedroom. Nami was awake and panting, sweat dripping down her flushed face.

"Nami? Are you okay?" I asked, setting my glass aside to sit down next to her.

"Y-yeah…j…just a nightmare…" she said. I shifted where I sat, understanding.

"Are you having trouble falling asleep?" She nodded reluctantly, her eyes darting to the snoring pile, and the shadows in the corners. I smiled sadly and gently pushed her down, pulling the blankets over her to tuck her in. "If it's any comfort, I'll sit here and wait for you to fall asleep," I told her, and she smiled more easily.

"Thanks, Silk," she said softly, before slowly dropping to sleep. I stayed by her bedside for a while, studying her. If what Usopp had told me once and what the other crewmates dropped hints at, she had worked like a slave for a bunch of vengeful fishmen to earn enough money to buy back her town. Gently, I stroked her silky red-orange hair, the exact color of a mikan.

"You know, Nami," I whispered, positive that my voice was disturbing no one, "you and I…we're more alike than I'd prefer." I drank my medicine and put the glass back in the kitchen. When I went back into the room, the spot that I had occupied looked surprisingly comfortable, so I sat there, leaned against the wall, and allowed myself to drift in the pastel-colored world that were my narcotic dreams.

* * *

><p>The ship shook, and I walked upstairs, curious to see what kind of antics Luffy and Usopp were up to now. Something, a small raising of the hairs on the back of my neck, made me reach for a weapon—and that was the scythe. Figuring that I wouldn't need it anyway, I brought it up with me. I opened the door…and there was this <em>friggin' huge ship<em> in front of the Merry. I walked out, closing the door carefully behind me. They didn't have to know we had more people on the ship.

A big, fat guy with a hippo skin as a coat stepped onto the ship as if he owned it. I tuned out whatever he said, feeling irritable. People who didn't even _consider_ what belonged to others…bothered me. Greatly. My scythe twitched sporadically, as I watched his every move. He wouldn't be much good in a fight…physically. But I was pretty sure that oversized jaw of his wasn't just for show.

Sanji came out and got a bunch of guns pointed at him…but it looked like a lot of them were pointed at me.

"Sir, this is Black Silk Cain, bounty 397,000,000 beli," one of the officers said. The fat man came over and looked me over as if I was a pretty lamp at an auction.

"How did such a small, harmless _girl_ like you get such a big bounty?" he sneered. I grinned psychotically, my scythe still twitching. I would _love_ to get a chance to take him apart, slowly…

"By slitting people's throats…" I said candidly, tilting my head to get a better view of his build. He had short, stubby limbs, perfect for chopping off.

"Well! You don't look threatening at all…I think I'll take your ship, and you with it. If all else fails, there's that over-priced bounty on your head I can turn in." I gritted my teeth, my eye starting to twitch. "Now…I'm feeling a touch peckish…" he said, taking a big bite of the _Merry_ as Luffy yelled at him. I started to swing my scythe back and forth. Some guys shoved their muzzles in my face, but I chopped them all off, glaring at them for added effect. Most of them whimpered and I noticed more than a few wet spots on their pants.

"Shoulda done this from the beginning," Zoro said happily.

"So we get to fight now?" Sanji said eagerly.

"Don't shoot me!" Usopp said pitifully, crawling down the mast like a spider. I just laughed, twirling my scythe faster and faster, clearing the crowd around me quickly. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji were defeating their enemies just as easily, and even Usopp defeated most of his opponents easily. At one point, Luffy got eaten but his arms managed to save him from a slow digestion. Vivi walked out at some point to see what was going on, but was just in time to see Luffy literally _launch_ the hippo guy into the air, and his army immediately retreated to find their 'Majesty', who had apparently eaten a Devil Fruit. Oh well. I shrugged my shoulders, rolling them to get the tension out.

"That was an okay warmup," I admitted, resting my scythe on my shoulder.

"Aw, why does everyone recognize _you_, Silk?" Luffy whined, and I laughed.

"'Cause I've had a huge bounty for a while," I said simply. "People start noticing when your bounty alone could let them retire early."

"Not to mention your poster is hung everywhere," Zoro said pointedly. "They really want you dead, don't they?" I grinned.

"Yup. Still, there's people who're bigger than me: the Four Yonku, Jinbe used to be bigger than me, and Fire Fist, among others. And there's a couple that I don't know the bounty of, but I think that Mihawk's old bounty would've been bigger than mine. Anyway," I said, sitting on the railing, "I bet you'll catch up soon, Luffy." I watched him cheer, not telling him the reason why I thought so. Luffy, and even Zoro and Sanji were incredibly strong and also very versatile. They learned quickly, and Luffy was a combat genius, able to measure himself against his opponent within a few blows. Zoro was incredibly perceptive and could pinpoint his opponent's weakness quickly. Sanji had a knack for tactics and often made carefully planned moves to bring down his opponents. All together, those three alone would surely surpass me one day (and I had a feeling that that day was approaching soon), and that wasn't counting the other crew members and those they were likely to pick up in the Grand Line. Of course, I wasn't about to say that any time soon.

* * *

><p>I walked up to the deck, right behind Zoro, and looked out at the horizon. An island with strangely-shaped plateaus came into sight quickly. Zoro organized the crew, electing to stay on the ship. The rest of us would find a doctor for Nami. I didn't pay much attention, but kept wondering what had happened, that would have made me forget to leave. Of course, I was already planning to leave before they left the island.<p>

We got off, and when we got into town I pointed ahead at a likely looking shop.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute—I'd really love to get rid of these soon," I said, not telling the real reason why I was splitting: it would be easier to get away.

"Um…" Vivi stammered, looking around at Sanji, Usopp and Luffy. Sanji was carrying Nami.

"Sure!" Luffy replied. "Don't get lost, though!" I smiled and nodded, heading towards the shop.

* * *

><p>The inside of the shop was clean, although the lighting was quite dim. A middle-aged man stood behind the counter, polishing what looked like some old coins.<p>

"Oh, hello," he said, upon noticing me. "We don't get many visitors this time of year—how may I help you?" I put my bag on the table, pulling out all my weapons.

"Well, you see…my late father was a big weapons collector, and when he died he willed his collection to us…but my family and I've come into hard times. My sister was really reluctant to part with this, but we have no choice…" I said, letting my sentence drift off as the last throwing star was put on the table. I knew from experience that sad stories would arouse the pawnster's pity and they would, sometimes unconsciously, raise the value of the item.

"I can give you 70,000 beli for the lot," he said. "These really are all top quality weapons." I beamed. Of course they were—I wouldn't waste my money on anything less. Especially not on the Grand Line.

"Thank you so much," I said, looking at them one last time before putting my money in the bag and walking out.

* * *

><p>I was well on my way to my ship, to make my speedy disappearance, when I saw Vivi and Usopp walking right for me. Strangely enough, Usopp's face was hugely swollen, as if he'd been slapped thousands of times. I doubted that Vivi would do that, but then again…<p>

"Oh, Silk! We were looking for you—we were afraid that you got caught in the avalanche!" Oh, right. That avalanche.

"Er, no…I was going back to the ship to look for you guys, actually!" I said, sweating a little drop. I was fine lying to merchants, since I eventually did get a pretty fair price on my stuff. But…I dunno, I'd just been lying all my life that I was _tired_ of it. Still, no one saw through my poker face quite yet.

"Well, I'm glad that your sa—woah!" Vivi exclaimed, jumping at the sudden explosion of snow…and a frozen Zoro without a shirt or a coat.

"Oh, Silk, Vivi and…" Zoro seemed to be having a hard time recognizing Usopp. "And Usopp. What are you guys doing here?"

What. The. Fucking. Hell.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I'll make it short, guys. So, muchas thanks to thakidisbac for an omake suggestion: they wanted me to write about Silk's earlier exploits. I have another idea, which is that I take every one of my reviewers and put them into a giant random chapter. I'll either take your One Piece OCs or just my impression of you…oh, and if I do this one then I'll also accept submitted characters. So, let me know which one you want to see first!<strong>

**This is Will. You all make me so happy and fuzzy and warm inside. Thank you.**

**Have a good night, people. This is Will, signing out.**


	17. Chapter 16

**Bitterness Chapter 17**

**Author's Note: One month. One month and 11 days. I am so, so, so, so sorry. I just managed to get this one cranked out before I crash. :) Anyway, I'm very tired, so beyond that, I'm only going to put in the review replys up here. Then you can read.**

**Reviews:**

**Lunaria Celeste: Thanks so much! I thought it was about time I mention them again, after maybe 10 or so chapters. I spent a while designing her room, so I'm glad you like it!**

**violentyetawesome: That's fine! I'm sorry their meeting didn't make it to this chapter, but Ace'll definitely crop up in the next one! Silk says hi!**

**Alpenwolf: Yes, that would make her a little overpowered, wouldn't it? ;) Yeah, she does still want to escape, very badly. That's fine, since I've still got a few more chapters before number 20!**

**thakidisbac: Thanks! As for your question, I'll just leave it to the story to answer that. ;) Your OC sounds awesome! I can't wait to write her!**

**Midnight1997: Thank you so much! I'm flattered…**

**TwilightMelodiac: Well, I hope this chapter is to your liking, then!**

**RMeyer90: Thanks! Here's the next chapter!**

**banifi: Thank you so much! I do agree with you, that Zoro needs to ask Silk to spar, but between you and me, I think he might just be a little bit weird about that, still. ;) Oh, that fight would be close…but I can't tell you just yet! I really hope you enjoy Silk's reaction (which was basically my own when I read this arc…how could you not love Chopper? And he gets more adorable as time goes on…). See you!**

**sunshineandmoonlight: It sure would! Well, I hope not. Silk and Luffy would never let him live it down, anyway. XD I'm sorry to keep you waiting, so here it is!**

**Warnings: Surprising lack of any swear words in this chapter.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 17<p>

The four of them walked back into town, with Zoro repeatedly asking Usopp for his coat. Or a shoe. I wondered for a minute if Zoro would actually fit in Usopp's coat—his coat had been the biggest of all of them—then disregarded it. It was his own fault for taking a "midwinter swim".

I was glad that I'd gotten a few extra beli from the shopkeeper, but I wished I'd been able to escape. This was just such an odd feeling…whenever I had been with another pirate crew, even the Whitebeards, I always was on the lookout for an opening, a path to escape and freedom. And whenever I did, the escapade gave me an incredible rush of adrenaline, a high that I could never resist. My helping Ace and Thatch in their pranks should speak for itself.

But on the Mugiwara's ship, I had completely forgotten…and I had never really gotten a chance to escape. Yes, there wasn't really a guard posted to watch my every move (creepy) but…

It was almost as if I couldn't escape from my own conscious.

And yes, this is coming from a lying, conniving monster of a bitch who can't even let pawnsters keep their money. It's just…almost like my time with the Mugiwaras forced me to face the thing that I had been avoiding all my life, and that was that I was living a lie. The big, wide ocean in front of me had been narrowed into a tiny mouse-maze path, a line of hoops for me to jump through. And woe to me if I ever missed. Those hoops were made of fire.

This entire thing was making me confused about everything. I needed to get out, fast.

…

And there was that whole thing with the unofficial first mate…

I jumped as a hand on my shoulder stopped me from running into a wall.

"Where's your mind, Silk?" Usopp asked, his face shrunk to normal size.

"Somewhere else," I shot back, shrugging his hand off my shoulder. "Anyway, where's Luffy, Sanji and Nami? I thought they were with you."

"Luffy went with Sanji to get Nami to the doctor on the top of the mountain," he explained. I nodded, seeing that Zoro was currently defeating a bunch of people in warm coats. Oh, that's right. He beat up a guard to get his coat, and then ended up fighting (if it can be called that) with all the other guards.

It seemed to me that it would've been far easier for him just to have kept his coat from the boat. But oh well.

The villagers dug up this huge guy, while Vivi informs me (in case the one name being shouted all around doesn't clue me in) that the guy's name is Dalton, and he was once part of the old king's navy, who turns out to be that one hippo-fur-wearing guy that Luffy launched. Apparently, that wasn't enough to kill him.

* * *

><p>And of course, eventually we find ourselves in a very crowded gondola to aid a wounded, embittered former King's Guard on a suicide mission. We're just very smart and make good life choices like that.<p>

Seriously, what good will it accomplish? You die, and the king probably doesn't care. None of his advisors care, at least if they give a crap about their lives. Nobody else likes the king. What kind of message is this going to send?

Oh, right. 'I'm a delusional, suicidal idiot who is too thick-skulled to understand that if the heads don't give a crap, then _they don't give a fucking shit and will shed no regretful, redeeming tear at me blowing myself into itty-bitty bits outside their luxuriant and piss-worthy castle on a godforsaken mountain_'.

I tell Dalton as much, and the townspeople are obviously writing my name in their collective hit list, if the looks shot my way are any sort of indicator. Too bad. I know and I accept that I'm a bitch. Now it's time for you guys to step up.

Dalton, being the delusional, suicidal idiot he is, disregards my very tactful and subtle message, and I am left to grouse over the fact that not only am I surrounded by idiots, but said idiots are also deluded and suicidal.

And as usual, no one pays attention. I grouse in solitude.

It's rather satisfying.

…

I really, _really_ need to get away from the Mugiwaras. They're being a very bad influence.

* * *

><p>When we get to the top of the mountain, something loud, plaid and rubbery gives a yell and launches itself at us. We dodge quickly, and Luffy surfaces, only to find his crewmates, Dalton and the townspeople, instead of the guards as he was expecting.<p>

"Oh, it's you guys! I thought you were guards," he explains. Usopp berates him, while I look around.

And spot an absolutely adorable little reindeer peeking the wrong way at us.

This is possibly the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Ever.

And of course, Usopp points at the baby reindeer (at least, I guess it's not adult—I know it's a Zoan, since no reindeer I know is shaped like that, but it's…so…SMALL) and calls it a monster. Causing it to run screaming, and for Luffy to run after it.

"Don't scare the adorable reindeer away!" I berate Usopp, hitting the top of his head hard enough to make a big ice cream scoop.

"Adorable?" Zoro asks, sweatdropping.

"Yes," I say stubbornly. "He's adorable. Question it and lose your chance at _ever_ having children." He stays silent, but cracks a grin anyway. Smug bastard that he is.

Eventually, Luffy convinces the adorable reindeer to join the crew. Although how "JUST COME ALREADY!" convinces him is beyond me.

Oh, and we make our usual exit, being sent off by a crazy old witch who has a good aim with knives.

…

WHO IS THIS LADY?

* * *

><p>The night sky fills with pink-colored snow that looks oddly like sakura, and the Mugiwaras are celebrating with their new crewmate with beer. I sit on the rail and watch them, watch Sanji and Zoro raise their mugs while throwing punches at each other (really, they cannot let each other off for one night), watch Luffy, Usopp and Chopper, the little reindeer's name, dance with rice baskets and chopsticks in their noses and mouths, and watch Nami laugh at their antics.<p>

It's a good night, and the weather is slowly warming, degree by degree.

I smile and sip the spiced beer, and watch the horizon.

Because you never really can be too sure.

* * *

><p>That night is peaceful, too. Nami, Zoro, Sanji, Vivi and I end up the only ones conscious after the party, since Nami and Zoro drank a lot but have insane tolerances, and Sanji, Vivi and I actually exercise some moderation. We manage to drag who we now dub the Idiot Trio into bed, and then Nami goes into her room, while I take the watch.<p>

While I've been on the ship, the crow's nest has become my unofficial bedroom. It's not that they haven't offered, but the girl's room is on the second floor below the deck, and there aren't any windows. The stairs creak too much for my liking, anyway, and the three people I'm most worried about have the sharpest ears.

It's not too cold out here, at least with me bundled up in a comforter half an inch thick. The wind nips at my face, keeping me awake and alert. When it's someone else's turn, I'll move to the other side and put in some medicine into the glass of water I brought from the kitchen. My eyes flicker across the skyline, knowing that certain Marines are notorious for nocturnal ambushes. The logic behind it is really quite simple—attack at night, the pirate's crew will be groggy (no pun intended) and you have a new bounty to collect—but some people don't feel the need to change their whole lifestyle. Even so, some of the most feared—excuse me, exalted—Marines attack at night: The Duke, famous not only for his insane wealth but also for his stringent psychological wars during interrogation (he'd sit you down with your hands cuffed to the arms of the chair while he'd be carefully tucking away at a wonderful feast set on his table, and always with the most polite manners); Grim Van Martin, well known for his habit of lighting the hearts and guts of pirates he'd killed on fire and sticking them onto spears, making a sort of grisly torch; and The Shadow, feared by all pirates with sense. He was the most deadly, able to slip by on the deck thanks to his silk shoes and lightness. Five minutes, and he could have huge crews of over a hundred dead in their sleep, their throat's slit and a familiar 'X' mark on their foreheads, or cheeks, or stomachs, or hearts, or wherever he really took his fancy.

I snap out of my thoughts thanks to little clicking sounds on the deck. Definitely not The Shadow, then. I peer over the edge of the nest, to see a small brown shape with a pink hat sit on the railings. I smile and call to him.

"Hey, Chopper, do you want to come up here?" I ask, and he nodd after a moment. "Any reason why you decided to take a night walk?" I question after he's gotten in the nest.

"I just…I just realized how much I missed my home island," he says, staring out to sea. "I…I never knew how big the ocean was," he mentions after a moment. I smile and gently ruffle his fur.

"The ocean's a big place, and the world's bigger," I tell him. "Still, when it all comes down to it, distance, length, width, depth, people, animals, royalty, none of it matters when you have friends and namaka to look after you," I smile. He looks up at me with wide eyes.

"How do you know so much?" he asks me. I smile again, maybe a little sadly.

"I've been sailing the seas before you could walk," I tease, poking his little blue nose. "It's something that comes with experience." We sit in silence for a minute before Chopper asks that question.

"Silk, how did Luffy recruit you?" he wants to know, looking up at me with his giant brown eyes. He's even better than Luffy at puppy eyes. I look out to sea again, trying to think of ways to answer his question.

"Luffy didn't recruit me," I say quietly. "Technically, I'm not part of this crew."

"Really?" he asks, little puffs of condensation coming from his mouth. "Then why are you traveling with them?" I ponder this question.

"He insisted that I join them," I say with a smile, remembering that day. "I really wanted to get him off my back, so I agreed to travel with them for a while. Since then…I…well, I decided to stay longer when I heard we were traveling to Arabasta," I tell him, editing around my intention to escape as soon as possible.

"What's so important about Arabasta?" Chopper asks.

"Arabasta…I have a score to settle with someone there," I say cryptically. "Long back stories and various irrelevant details are involved. Nothing too bad to worry about." He nods, and I hoist him up to the edge, helping him onto the rope ladder. He climbs down and walks back in, yawning on the way.

One more person I'd miss when I'm gone.

* * *

><p>The next day, it's discovered that Luffy ate the leftovers, and I spot Usopp, Carue and the newest member of the crew finish swallowing their bits, while fishing to see if there were any food. I would mention that it would probably be better to fish at the back of the ship, rather than the front, if there wasn't an uproar about steam from the ocean. Nami explains the concepts of underwater volcanos, just before the ship sails through the almost blinding steam.<p>

When we come out, there's a man-ballarina hanging onto Carue's neck, before letting go with a yell. I groan. This is shaping up to be a really, really long day.

When the guy is fished out, I finally get a good look at him.

It's _him_.

* * *

><p><em>Dark shadows and despair congeal here into almost-tangible puddles in the air, in this basement prison, and sounds, any sound, echoes like voices calling back faintly. Blood drips down my face and from my body, from the cuts I have received today from Questioner Number One.<em>

_I hear hoots and horrible singing echoing down the long, empty hallway, and I steel myself, prepare for what comes next._

_Questioner Number Two._

_He bursts into my cell, making an admittedly graceful grand jête, but all I can think about are how powerful those legs can be. He tells me he's an okama in a somewhat wavering, attempt-at-musicality voice that's far too loud. He then pulls out a list and asks me the questions, all of which I refuse to answer._

_I insult him, his mother, the possible size of his neuron mass, and his outfit between questions._

_I spend the next hour multiplying my bone count as those powerful legs fracture ribs with every kick._

* * *

><p>I snap out of my memories just in time to see Luffy get launched by the okama, Questioner Number Two, before becoming an exact copy of Mugiwara, although keeping the same clothes.<p>

Frankly, he still looks ridiculous.

This is a new one for me, but frankly, if you're questioning and torturing someone, it doesn't really take a lot of physical infiltration. He still talks the same way, and his expressions are practically the same. From my first impression, I doubt that he's a good imposter. And then I remember Crocodile's words:

"_Only the best from my organization will service you, my dear. Only the best."_ He obviously can be more serious if and when the situation calls for it.

He does impressions of everyone, including me. For a moment, I think he recognizes me, but the moment passes and he goes to entertain the Idiot Trio, and I remember that in the cell, my face was covered in blood and shadows, and he was too busy trying to defend his mother's name to take a good look at my face.

His crew eventually catches up with him, and I learn his title. Mr. Two. I guess I wasn't too far off the mark, then.

Vivi realizes, about five minutes after they've sailed, that he's part of the Baroque's Work. But I don't pay attention to that. I watch the horizon for Arabasta instead, but listen again when Zoro stands up and says:

"No, don't be sorry we met him. Now we know his name, and his Devil Fruit." He grins, the grin of the bounty hunter. "Now, we can use counter-measures."

* * *

><p>I have to give it to Zoro. This is one of his better ideas, when he actually decides to volunteer them, anyway. Simple, but layered.<p>

I tie the bandage to my left arm, right over the spot where Usopp drew the X on it. There. Counter measures complete, Luffy decides we need some sort of ceremony to christen this brainchild of his unofficial first mate's.

"No matter what we go through," he declares as we all form a circle and extend our left arms to the center, "this left arm in a symbol of friendship! Now…

TO A RESTAURAUNT!" he finishes.

Of course. With Luffy around, food is always the first order of business. I grin and lean against the rail, eager to get in there.

The faster I get to Arabasta, the faster I can get payback.

And the faster I get payback…

The faster I can be free.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: And we're finished! Drum Island, if you look at it from anybody but Luffy, Sanji and Nami's POV, was really short. So I managed to fit it into two chapters! Arabasta starts next, although only heaven knows how long that one will take.<strong>

**School's going to end soon, so I'll have more time to write and I'll hopefully update faster! Thanks for reading this, and I hope you guys like it!**

**Love you all,**

**Will.**


	18. AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE READ ARIGATO

Konichiwa, everyone who is watching, has Favorited or reviewed Bitterness!

First of all, THANK YOU ALL FOR READING MY HORRIBLE WORK! Arigato, arigato! I truly am grateful to you all. Which is why I think you all deserve an explanation.

As of right now, I have no plans to continue Bitterness. I am not afraid of the number of arcs One Piece has (I really did see what I was getting into, I swear!), nor do I find myself hating Silk. The thing is, this story was not very well planned out. At all. Silk went from being a Mary Sue, to being kinda Sue-ish but tolerable, to being someone that in almost no way resembled the original. I will admit to everyone right now that I was really using Bitterness to work on my character-building skills. Other than that, all I can see is poor writing and bad patches and overall laziness (you know when Silk fell asleep and missed the rest of Cactus Rock? Yeah...).

Being the wonderful people that you are, I'm very sorry for letting you down like this. You guys have all encouraged me along the way, and I'm very grateful to you all, and I feel like you all deserve more than this.

For now, I'm going to abandon this story. If someone wants to adopt it, just PM me. If not, it's going to be cooling in the fridge, until and unless I get a second wind. For right now, Silk and the Mugiwaras are going to RIP.

I have no plans to stop writing fanfiction, or to abandon the One Piece fandom. In fact, I have another fanfic well on the way. If all goes well, then expect another fanfic by this week. And if my muse will stop sulking, then I may, muse willing, to get another chapter of Because He's Namaka up soon.

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Me: That was a hint, baka.

Muse: *cultivates mushrooms in the corner*

Me: What is it this time?

Muse: You changed my appearance again...

Me: Like it's my fault every time I read manga you turn into my favorite character!

Muse: You could be nicer about it! Something like, "Muse-sama, I'm going to read another manga, please be prepared."

Me: And the 'Muse-sama' came from where?

Muse: I _am_ your muse. It wouldn't hurt to be nicer to me.

Me: It wouldn't hurt to help me out over here. I have these nice reviewers!

Muse: *pouts*

Me: *resists glomping the cuteness* Okay, I'm sorry I re-read Death Note! Now stop pouting! I'll break your spine if you don't!

Muse: *grumbles*

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Anyway, I have that in those two in the works, and I'm working on a Death Note fic, too. Ah, so many irons in the fire...

Well, arigato for reading my author's note, and arigato for favoriting, reviewing, watching, and reading my work! I promise to do better with the next fics I post!

This is Will, everyone. I'll be signing off for now.

Have a great day!

**EDIT (7/1/12): Hello! If you guys don't mind, I'm here to shamelessly advertise for my new OP fic, Shattered Glass. Now, I'll run like my ass is on fire and dodge all the Moltov Cocktails I'm sure you all have prepared for me. Bye!**

***runs for life***


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